


The Reaper's Revenge

by amariewilson



Series: The Spider and the Wasp [3]
Category: Orange is the New Black
Genre: Adventure, Epic, F/F, Fantasy, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2020-07-25 19:55:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 47,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20031448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amariewilson/pseuds/amariewilson
Summary: A spider only bites when provoked. In the aftermath of witnessing the brutal torture and murder of her beloved, Alex Vause has but only one goal in mind: revenge. No longer the captain of the Black Widow but a prisoner aboard the ship she swore she would never return to and completely consumed by  heartbreak and grief, she clings to life only so that she might avenge her lover’s death and the small chance that she might still be able to get the love of her life back. But time is running out and Kubra has dark intentions of his own.  If she is unsuccessful in her mission the only question that remains is what else is there left to live for?





	1. Chapter 1

The fires from the destruction left behind in Kubra's wake burned brightly in a sea of wreckage and dead bodies. Among them, was Tasha, who emerged up out of the water with a sharp gasp of air, coughing and throwing up water as she did her best to try and breathe. She blindly reaching around for something to hold onto and rubbed the salty the seawater from her eyes when she managed to find a floating piece of driftwood partially submerged in the water. Every time she moved the muscles in her face she felt the sting of the cuts opening up. As she looked around she saw the destruction and rubble of everything that used to be the Black Widow, now nothing but scattered remnants of what used to be the legendary ship. The fires surrounding her stood out like a beacon around the darkness of night. Parts of the ship were spread around in disarray still being eaten away by the flames that reflected off the dark still water like a mirror. What used to be the ship's bow now listed harshly to one side almost submerged in the water, one of the masts were still in tact hanging on by a few splinters of wood threatening to fall apart as the fire to continued to climb up towards the dismantled crows nest.

The heat was strong on her skin despite being in the water. She smelled the burning wood and the smell of burning flesh. And amongst all the rubble she saw the bodies too, face down in the water, some were completely charred, others were blown apart, arms and legs missing. It was a sea of carnage and death.

She remembered the first cannonball hitting with a great concussive force that gutted into the side of the ship setting off an explosion of sharp splinters spraying onto everyone left on board. A barrage of death continuously raining down on top them ripping the Widow apart. Some of her friends were blown away or crushed by heavy beams and the large masts. The cannonballs hit the powdered kegs triggering more explosions around the ship and Tasha had the misfortune of being near one. She felt the force of it in her bones and chest as it blasted her back into the water leaving her with a ringing in her ears, a splitting headache, singed hair and a bloodied face. Now here she was floating adrift on a piece of driftwood, the sole survivor of the Black Widow…or so she thought.

"Suzanne!" A voice echoed across the water. Tasha lifted her head up when she heard the sound over the roar of the flames and crackling of the wood. Tasha did her best to wipe the blood and water from her face so that she could get a better look around. With the ringing in her ears it made it very difficult to hear anything. What she heard sounded rather muffled and distorted. She concentrated as hard as she could and focused in only on her hearing when she heard the voice again. It sounded like the voice was so far away but in reality it couldn't have been no more than a few feet.

"Cindy?!" Tasha called "Cindy that you?!" Her voice was hopeful. She had no idea if it was in fact Cindy but from what she could make out it almost sounded like her. She prayed that it was. She'd give anything to see a familiar face or any face for that matter that was still alive.

"Suzanne! Hold on I got you!"

Suzanne? Suzanne was alive too? Tasha held on to the driftwood while she kicked her way towards the sound of Cindy's voice. She pushed her way through the large chunks of debris, floating bodies, and fiery wood.

Embers floated through the air like little fireflies and lightly hit Tasha's face. She shielded her eyes from some of the fires for the heat burned them making it hard to keep her eyes open. She floated past a big chunk of the ship that creaked and crackled just before finally breaking apart and sinking. Another explosion went off not too far away from her and more debris came raining down.

"Suzanne you got to calm down! I'm gonna get you out!"

Tasha finally found them. Cindy was pulling at a heavy piece of wreckage and having a hard time moving it. She saw Suzanne pinned between the heavy piece of wreckage Cindy was trying to move and part of what used to be the hull. She was in an uncomfortable position, one arm hanging over the wooden panel that pinned her and the rest of her body trapped underneath it.

"Holy fuck." Tasha said as she came closer and saw how bad the situation was. "Cindy!"

Cindy stopped pulling the panel and looked up when she saw Tasha. "Shit, Tasha?" The joy in seeing her friend still alive was brief and she went right back to trying to help Suzanne.

"Help me get this fucking thing off Suzanne." Tasha didn't even wait for Cindy to finish her sentence and was already headed to the other side of the panel to help.

"It's hard to breathe. Very hard to breathe." Suzanne said in a whimpering groan.

"We got you Suzanne hang on." Tasha said. "Shit, this fucking thing is heavy."

"And it's still hot, it's burning my fucking palms." said Cindy.

"C'mon on the count of three we gon' lift this thing."

Cindy nodded to say she understood. Tasha looked at Suzanne "Suzanne do me a favor and count to twenty okay?"

"But I can't." Suzanne whined "It's very hard to breathe."

"I know it is. But you can do it. We're going to get you out. I need you to try."

Suzanne nodded as the tears started to come down her face. Tasha looked over at Cindy and nodded, ready to start the count.

"One…two…three." With all their strength Tasha and Cindy moved the large panel. The muscles in their arms strained and they grunted and growled with the effort until the panel started to peel off of Suzanne's body. It splashed into the water and then sank into the ocean. Suzanne slid into the water and came frantically splashing over to Cindy to embrace her in a hug and Tasha moved in to join them, embracing them both.

Cindy started to cry as Suzanne began whimpering in their arms. "You're all right now." Tasha said as she comforted her "You're all right now."

Tasha couldn't help but cry too, mostly tears of joy at seeing that at least two of the people that mattered the most to her were still alive.

"Damn, I am so glad to see ya'll" Tasha said. She guided them both over to the driftwood that she had been floating on, it was enough to accommodate the three of them.

"I thought everybody was gone." said Cindy "There are bodies everywhere."

"Bodies?" Suzanne cried.

"Shh. Shutup." Tasha snapped at Cindy.

Suzanne suddenly started into a hysterical fit."They're all dead?! They're dead, they're dead, they're all dead!"

Tasha rubbed her shoulders as she tried to calm Suzanne down "Shh, Suzanne, Suzanne calm down, just pretend that they're all sleeping."

"Belly side down in the water, burnt to a crisp?" Cindy asked with sarcasm.

"You ain't helping" said Tasha.

"I'm sorry it's just things have just been fucking horrible. These past few hours have been fucking horrible. The shit that just happened back there was fucking horrible, we almost died. And white girl Piper, what those men did to her…she ain't deserve that shit. I mean I ain't seen shit like that since the days we spent at the plantations, when the slavers would tie you to the trees, bark hard and scraping against your cheek, then they open your back with the whip, and make everyone watch. I never thought I would ever see something like that ever again."

"Cindy, stop talking about it, we have to focus on the now. We lost our girls, our captain, and it's fucked what happened to Piper and that other girl Nicky. We got other shit to worry about now. Piper gets my upmost respect for what she did for us and what she endured but we need to figure out our situation and survive this shit first, then we can grieve our losses."

"What the hell do you mean figure out our situation, look around you. What's to figure out? We we're just blown up by some bald headed pirate who was out to get Vause. Everyone around us is dead and we're floating around in the dark in the middle of the ocean with nowhere to go. So what's to figure out?"

"Deaaaaad?" Suzanne started up again "Dead, dead, dead, dead, dead!"

"Suzanne c'mon now, do what I told you pretend that they're sleeping. Look, ya'll listen to me, we have to keep our shit together so that we can survive this. We have to stick together, the captain is gone, the ship is gone but we're still a crew, and the crew has to stick together. We've all been through worse shit and we're going to get through this too. Ya'll understand me?"

Cindy spoke up "But—"

"But, nothing. We're going to get out of this. We look after each other. We're a crew. Whether it's fifty of us or just the three of us, we stick together."

"Somebody help me!" Came a whimpering cry. "Is there anybody alive out there! Please!"

"Looks like we got another one." said Cindy.

All three of them paddled their way towards the voice and then they saw her. "Shit!" Cindy exclaimed, "That's Morello."

"Who?" Tasha asked.

"The one that was always with Nichols, Nicky's girl. She be a little off in the head. The one that tried to kill Lord Christopher's wife."

"We gonna help her?" Suzanne asked.

Tasha was silent for a moment as she looked at Suzanne. They all never really interacted with Lorna personally but it would feel wrong to just leave her there hanging on to that little piece of wreckage.

"She could be our fourth?" Suzanne asked again timidly but a little more persuasive.

"Fine. The more the merrier. Let's get her over here."


	2. Chapter 2

It was dark down in the lower decks of Kubra's ship. Once they were out of range of Black Widow's destruction, Kubra and his men moved Alex into her new prison cell. She had made no attempt to fight any of them, not that she really could even if she wanted to. Alex Vause was a damaged woman. Her arm was badly broken, older flesh wounds that had been stitched and bandaged still hurt. Her mind was a mess of fleeting hallucinations as a result from the aching shoulder wound that she received from the Night Nymph that had bitten her. She knew that the hallucinations she saw weren't real but it didn't help that she no longer had glasses and was completely surrounded by the dark. Alex would shut her eyes tightly and shake away the illusion. But of all of her wounds both mental and physical, none of those were comparable to the wounds her heart just recently suffered. Wounds that were still very raw and hurting.

Alex had been kept in this cell for almost two days, left alone with the rats, her sorrows, and the smell of mildew. She hadn't stopped crying since that terrible evening, haunted by the sounds of Piper's cries of pain. She stayed crouched in the same position, leaning against the bars of her prison, moving only to comfort the sharp pain in her broken arm, until she finally cried herself to sleep. Her eyes were swollen, puffy, and red and her cheeks blotchy with tear stains. The more she thought about what she had lost, the more it angered her, the more she sobbed. She could not get the image of Piper suffering and dying out of her head. It wouldn't stop. She could still hear the sound of the gun going off in her ears. The image of Kubra shooting Nicky in the head and bleeding out on the deck. It was enough to drive her into madness. Perhaps she was going mad.

Piper was dead. Piper was gone. The love of her life was dead and in a way Alex felt partly responsible. She should've forced her to leave, she should've sent her away the moment Fahri had given her that warning. She should've never had kidnapped her from that castle. Piper would probably be alive right now if she had just given her up when she had the chance, if she had never met her. But then… if she had never met Piper, she never would've experienced all of these newfound feelings that anyone could ever possibly feel for another human being. Alex felt hollow, empty, as if there was a part of herself that was now missing. Nothing seemed to matter anymore. Life felt pointless.

To add insult to her pain Stella was her only visitor, and her appearance was much more different than the humble attire she had worn before. What she wore now was definitely more fitting to her post as Kubra's quartermaster. She was dressed in all black, her short hair pushed back from her face. She wore a ruffled top covered by her coat with a thick black belt around her small waist, and knee high boots. The end of her coat brushed just above the tops of them. She was the snake that had finally shed it's skin.

Stella would come down to see her to give her her meals, but Alex never ate. Alex was no longer interested in anything, no longer cared about anything. She welcomed the idea of death, longed for it even. She thought seriously of ways in which she could die and how she would do it. The only thing that kept her from going down such a dark and welcoming path was the sight of Stella; still walking around, still breathing. It was insulting and it made Alex's blood boil. Piper was dead and this bitch was still walking around unscathed, unbothered, as if everything was all right in the world. Every time Alex saw her face, sadness immediately turned to tremendous and profound rage. She wanted to kill Stella. She truly wanted to kill this woman.

Stella was going on with her life as if everything was fine and here was Alex in so much anguish, torn apart by the sounds of Piper's screams of pain and the gunshot that killed her and this bitch had nothing to say about it. Alex wanted her dead, and not just her, but all of them. Everyone last one of those bastards that participated in Piper's ridicule and torment…and Kubra…Kubra she would save for last. But they would pay, all of them would pay, though she wasn't sure how yet.

Alex mentally followed Stella's patterns of when she would come to visit and right on schedule here she was again. Alex never took her eyes off of her and just watched as she once again did the routine thing of coming down the steps, looking at her through the bars, and sliding her her food. Stella looked taken aback by the eye contact Alex had finally made with her but it didn't stop her from carrying on in her duty.

"Here you go Vause, enjoy. Or add it to the others if you wish. I see you're starting a collection."

Alex finally spoke, her voice was low, cracked, and hoarse."This is all your fault. You've got a lot of fucking nerve to keep showing your face down here."

Stella stopped and turned around when she heard Alex speak. Alex glared at her.

"This….this is all your fault. Everyone, Nicky, Piper… all of them are dead because of you." She sat up just the slightest bit and her eyes focused in on Stella. "Piper," she croaked out, "Piper is dead because of you. Because of you Piper is gone. How can you just stand there and look me in my face after what you've done?"

Stella just stood there looking at Alex completely emotionless. It was like she had been waiting for this moment.

"Do you have nothing to say at all? Nothing?" Her voice began to shudder as her anger started to tip right at the edge. Stella's silence infuriated her even more.

"What do you want me to say Alex? It's like you said they're dead, they're all dead, Piper is dead, she's gone. What's done is done. And I hardly think I'm the only one to blame for it. You were there you saw who pulled the trigger."

Alex suddenly lunged at her like a feral animal and gripped the bars with her good hand. Though the cage separated them Stella still jumped back a step.

"You fucking bitch! How could you do that to her?! And then have the nerve to stand here and act as if she meant nothing. As if Piper's life was insignificant, easily thrown away, as if she didn't matter! She was important to me! She mattered to me! And now…" Alex gasped out a harsh sob. Her words were barely coming out for they were shaky and hoarse with so much emotion, so much anger and hurt, so much contempt for the woman that stood in front of her.

"She's gone!" Alex cried out with a shuddering breath. She cried even harder for having spoken the truth out loud. As if admitting it out loud truly made it real. "She's gone…Piper is gone! She trusted you! She fucking trusted you and you just handed her over to him! How could you do that?! Why did you do that?! I swear I should've killed you when I had the chance! I should've killed you the moment you arrived on my ship! I swear it I'm going to fucking kill you!"

Stella made a face at her and gave a light shrug, unfazed by Alex's pain. She took Alex's outburst like a parent waiting for a child to calm down during a tantrum. She slowly began to pace, "Should've, would've, could've, but you didn't. It wasn't my fault that your girlfriend was so trusting. You want to blame me for Piper's death, that's fine I accept that. I understand your pain Vause, you're grieving, understandably so. Facing reality can be very painful. You'll be over this soon enough. Time heals as they say."

"You don't understand a god damn thing, you couldn't possibly understand!"

"I do, at least a little. I'm not completely heartless."

"You took everything from me! Kubra might've pulled the trigger but what you did was so much worse. You set it all up, you arranged for it, you gave her to him. You fed her to the fucking wolves! She vouched for you, saved your ass and mine several times and you did that to her!"

Stella nodded as if to say she understood "Kubra wanted you both and I had to see it through…I didn't however anticipate what they would do to Piper. I didn't think it would be that severe. What they all did…what they tried to do…I did not want that for her."

Through her tears Alex looked at her with such fury and frowned her face at Stella as if she had to be the stupidest woman in the world "Just what the fuck were you expecting?"

"Something a little more quick and painless I suppose. When I heard the stories of you both, everyone failed to mention the magnitude of you and Piper's relationship. More than conspirators of the crown, more than friends, to find out that you were actually lovers. With that new information in mind it did bother me if only just a little to know that I had to be the one to ruin you both, to destroy your happiness, but it wasn't enough to persuade me from what I had to do."

"I know you probably don't want to hear this…but I am truly sorry about what happened to Piper. She was an interesting person, at times it was even hard to believe that she was once a princess. Under different circumstances we probably could've been good friends. I did like her, I did, though I wouldn't go as far to say that I loved her or anything like that. Piper was more so a means to an end. The entire time my target has always been you, Alex. I've been searching for you and it was a stroke of luck that you all happened to find me. You see, I've been with Kubra for over two years and I wasn't lying when I said that I was an admirer of yours, but I was also pretty envious of you as well." she scoffed "Who am I kidding? I am envious of you."

"Kubra talked about you quite frequently," Stella went on, "About your efficiency, your skills, your intelligence, how you were the best quartermaster he ever had. No one could possibly measure up to the great Alexandria Vause. Didn't matter how efficient I was, I was never good enough in comparison to you, always second best, always in your shadow, and you weren't even around. I wanted that same respect. As a child I've been moved from family to family, home to home and had yet to find anyone who was willing to accept me. Kubra accepted me but yet he seemed so obsessed with you."

Alex scoffed at her "You are a fucking idiot if you think Kubra cares about you in any way. Kubra only cares about what people can do for him. He picks people for their usefulness. Kubra has no qualms about killing anyone not even his own crew. The day you stop being useful is the day you are expendable."

"Well then I guess I better remain useful. I personally took on the job of finding you both in order to gain some favor, I'll admit that. When I arrived on your ship I had no allies, no accomplices, and I'm a bit of an over achiever. I thought why stop at Alex and Piper why not just take the whole god damn ship. Imagine the look on Kubra's face when he sees that I single handedly brought down Vause's entire ship and crew. So I worked my magic, I knew I had to work my way from the inside out, I needed to gain allies, all I needed was a mark, someone I could manipulate, someone easily persuaded… and after learning of Piper's deep relationship to you I thought it would be Piper…I was wrong. Piper was not as easily persuaded as I thought she'd be. And when I saw things weren't going my way with her my interests shifted towards Valla."

Stella smiled looking all to proud of herself. "Anger and fear are perfect tools for manipulation. All you have to do is get a group of people together who are all angry about the same thing, or fearful about the same thing, say hello, and you got yourself a following. And I had three of them. I planted the seeds in Valla's head, gave her the ideas to help turn others to our side, she did all the work I just pulled the strings and guided her in the direction I wanted her to go until it was time for me to step in."

"It was me who told Valla to inform you of what happened between Piper and I in the wash room. Little did she know however, that I had known that she had been watching us the entire time, that I wanted her to see us, that I wanted her to go back and tell you. But she wasn't moving fast enough so I had to give her a little push to move things along. Unfortunately for her she had yet to realize that she was just another pawn. In order to get you right where I wanted I had to isolate you, you're weaker when you're alone, without friends or allies. I'd turn your woman against you, turn the crew against you, and then I could take the ship with little to no effort."

"Then came Lolly" Stella sighed "Simple, crazy Lolly. She came along and almost ruined everything. The night before we took your ship Lolly was found snooping around and was about to run back to tell you both. I dealt with her personally."

"You killed her too." Alex said muttered.

"It was quick…and necessary. The dead can't talk."

For the first time since Stella had come down those steps Alex looked away. She now felt guilty and saddened at the news that Lolly had fallen victim to Stella's traitorous plan as well. Alex had thought Lolly was a madwoman, terribly annoying, and a thorn in her side. While that might've been true, Lolly had proven that she was more honorable than Stella ever was and Alex truly did owe the woman her life. Lolly had tried to save her from the Night Nymphs and then tried to warn her of Stella's plans only to be killed in the process.

"And there you have it." Stella said. "As you can see, here you are and here I am."

She licked her lips and paused for a brief moment, "Piper did love you, very much. And I was almost envious of that too."

"I don't need _you_ to tell me how Piper felt and I don't give a fuck about your jealousy. " Alex growled.

"Hmph, you really are an angry person Vause." Stella sassed. "Piper really was a good woman to have put up with you." She flattened her fingers to her chest, "I mean if Piper had been mine I would've certainly have never treated her the way that you have been…so rude, so mean. But I guess you can't be blamed for that since I was the cause for a lot of it. The cause for all your distrust, all of your doubt."

The muscles in Alex's jaw twitched. "Fuck you."

Stella pursed her lips and shrugged, "Well, if it's any consolation to all of this if it means anything to you at all, Piper never once wavered in her love for you. I initiated everything, I was the one trying to push and she was always pushing me away. Piper never betrayed you, not once."

New tears came falling down Alex's face. Even though Piper had forgiven her, even though they had both forgiven each other, it was infuriating hearing this from Stella because it was something Alex should've already had known from the very beginning, something she never should've doubted in the first place.

"Listen Vause, it's time for you to face facts, you can't dwell on what's in the past and we've got work to do, Kubra is in need of your services. So I'm going to give you a well needed dose of reality. Your ship has been destroyed, your crew is dead, Nichols is dead, your girlfriend Piper, the love of your life, she's dead, she's dead, she's gone and she's not coming back. If it makes you feel better hold on to the memories because right now that's all you have and eventually even those will fade. Put it behind you Vause, pull yourself together, and maybe we can see about fixing your arm, you have a job to do now. Let it go. It's done."

Alex gave a humorless throaty laugh. It was a dark contrast to the tear stains that were on her face."You say you're sorry for what happened to Piper. You took the love of my life away… and you're sorry." She shook her head back and forth and continued to chuckle to herself. Stella lifted an eyebrow, confused by her laughter.

"You're not sorry. Not yet. But by the time I'm finished with you, you will be. I want you to know something Stella, I want you to know that before I leave this world I'm going to kill you. But before I do I'm going to make sure that you understand the pain that you have caused me. I'm going to teach you a very slow lesson in what pain is. For every mark Piper suffered on her body…"

Alex nearly choked at the memory of it "I am going to inflict on you ten times over. And by the time I'm finished with you, you will beg to die, I swear it you will beg. Then and only then will you be sorry, not before. I advise you to get used to sleeping with one eye open because I'm coming for you. And you're not going to know where or when. You are going to die Stella, and that's a promise."

"Hmm that's a bold threat coming from a shabby looking woman lying on the ground with a broken arm."

"I don't make threats. You thought you knew me before. You have no idea who the fuck I am, but you and I Stella are about to become very well acquainted. You're going to die."


	3. Chapter 3

After another evening of drowning in her tears and sorrow Alex was all cried out, numb of emotion save for the rage that filled her body. She imagined her grief and pain as a physical thing that she could tuck away inside herself, locked away in a chest that only she could get to. With the tears now gone she instead wore a cold, hard, mask; eyes dead and emotionless. The time for grieving was now over and Alex started to focus on how she would go about killing Piper's tormentors. There was a lot of time to think about it but every method she came up with didn't seem like it was enough to sate her thirst for revenge. Poison, a shot through the head, a knife in the gut, intriguing thoughts but all of them much too easy, much too quick. Piper suffered so naturally, so should they. And Stella would suffer the most. Kubra, Kubra would be no easy feat to kill. If she knew him well enough, than she would know that he would anticipate her wanting to kill him. He doesn't trust her. He would be watching her every move and so would Aydin, Desmond and Haluk. Getting to Kubra would mean taking them out first, evening the odds, lowering the opposition. It would take time, patience, and some long term planning. Either way, they would all die. She had the time to think it over, it was a long way to Tylassa after all.

Tylassa…suddenly Alex lifted her head up when a thought had crossed her mind. Tylassa. Of course, Tylassa. The Pool of Souls, how could she have forgotten? Alex let out a sigh of hopeful relief. Maybe it wasn't too late, maybe there was still a way. Maybe there was still a chance, a small one, but still a chance. She had been so overwhelmed by her pain she had almost forgotten about the Pool of Souls and of it's power.

The Pool of Souls brings the dead back to life, but only one person, a soul for a soul, a temporary doorway between life and death. She could salvage this, she could restore her wounded heart. Piper, she could bring Piper back. Piper was not lost, not yet. Not if Alex could do something about it. She nearly wept all over again with the thought of seeing Piper again, holding her again, kissing her again. It wasn't over yet. There was still hope.

There was the sudden pang of guilt, though. Alex had spent years anticipating the moment when she would finally be able to resurrect Diane but now things were different, circumstances have changed, and Alex missed Piper so much. There was really no decision to make. If the decision came between Piper or Diane, she would choose Piper, no question. But somehow she felt as if she was betraying her mother, but if she knew Diane, she knew that she would want her to choose Piper. And even if Alex did choose her mother, Alex could never be truly happy without Piper.

Alex thought of the few nights before, the last night that she and Piper were together, naked in each other's arms caressing each other's skin, Alex's fingers running through her hair as she nuzzled closely against Piper's cheek and Piper giggling as she did. She could still smell her, she could still feel her even now. It was a moment of absolute bliss torn apart in a single day. She closed her eyes so that she might still be able to listen to the sound of Piper's voice.

_…Do you believe as that book says. That we're connected by an invisible tether that binds us together, time, distance, not even death can sever it…promise me that we'll find each other again. That you'll find me._

_I will. I promise Pipes. When all this is over, i'll find you. I promise._

Now, Alex's promise held new meaning. She had to get Piper back. She would get Piper back, no matter what. There was no guarantee that the Pool of Souls would even work, but hope was all Alex had left and she was more than willing to try. And if things didn't go as planned she would welcome death with open arms. She couldn't care less for the jewel Kubra sought out from the island but for now Alex decided that she would be compliant if it meant achieving her goals. She would work this in her favor. She would bring Piper back from the dead and Stella would be the perfect body to put in her place.

Alex heard the sound of the door from the upper decks opening up. There were footsteps coming down the stairs. She thought it might be Stella again, but the footsteps sounded much heavier making the floor boards of the steps creak and it sounded like it was more than one person.

It was two figures walking closer and closer to her cell. Coming out of the dark and into the dim light was Kubra and right behind him was Desmond looking like a hulking dark shadow. He was so big that the space down here felt tighter and much smaller with his presence. Desmond being here proved that Alex was right in the assumption that Kubra didn't trust her. In fact, if Alex didn't know any better she would say that Kubra felt threatened by her, though he would never admit it. Why else would he think to bring Desmond down here with him. She was the one trapped in the cell and yet Kubra was threatened by her. He should feel threatened.

"Alex, it's time for you to get up." Kubra said in a cold and business like tone. He never took his eyes off of her and Alex never took her eyes off of him. Her head was tilted up against the bars.

"Stella said you still weren't eating, it's not very good to be wasteful. She also says you're still upset over what happened to your little lady love."

Alex's eyes squinted. She frowned at him a little for having the audacity to even mention Piper.

"Oh Alex, don't look at me like that. I'm not a bad guy, I did you a favor. I know how strong you are. I know what you are capable of. You cannot be at your fullest potential if you have people holding you back. You've become so much weaker because of her and I've set you free. I take no joy in hurting you, but you needed to learn and sometimes the best way to learn is often times the hard way. One day you'll thank me for this."

Kubra came closer and pulled up a stool to sit down in front of the cell "Do you remember what you were like after your mother died?"

"You came down here to reminisce?" Alex asked in a low and even tone.

"Do you remember?" Kubra asked again more persistently.

Alex let out a deep sigh "I imagine it looked very similar to how I'm feeling now. I was fucking miserable, I slowly started to hate my life. I hated everyone and everything."

"But you were fearless, you had nothing to lose. You were free."

"Are you trying to say that my mother's passing was some sort of fucking blessing?"

"I like to find the good in any situation" Kubra glowered at her, "And watch your tone. You're in mourning so I'm trying to be a little courteous towards your situation by giving you some time to grieve. But don't forget who I am or where you are. I gave you almost three days to cry your shit out and now the time for grieving is over. We have things to do now, we're meeting with the rest of my fleet and their captains very soon I'm going to need you at the front along with Stella. We need to discuss our plans. It's time we put what you learned to use. And time is of the essence. We only have seven months left."

_Well then I had better get started, _Alex thought.

Kubra became silent as if he were anticipating some sort of snide response from her.

"Fine" said Alex. She sat up a little more against the bars and clutched her arm as she grimaced in pain.

Kubra's eyes lit up a little but then they quickly became suspicious. "Alex?"

"You're absolutely right Kubra, maybe I have grieved enough. One cannot dwell in the past forever right?"

A slow smile crept across Kubra's lips and he chuckled to himself as he scratched his small goatee "Alex, I've known you far too long not to know when you're up to something. Don't think about doing anything stupid."

He stood up from the stool and returned it back to where he found it. He groaned as he stretched the muscles in his legs. "I'll be watching you. You'll give me what I want. And you're going to cooperate no questions asked."

Kubra took the keys off of his belt and handed them over to Desmond "Open her cage." He started to walk back towards the door while Desmond stuck the key into the cell. It made a rusty clang and slowly creaked open. "I expect you up on deck in the next fifteen minutes Vause. If not, I'll have Desi come back down here and drag you out by your arm…slowly… and I'll make sure he hits every step going up."

He started to walk back up the steps and Alex called out to him.

"Kubra."

He turned around to look back at Alex.

Alex gave him a cold glare through the bars "Beware the man who is empty and alone for he has nothing to lose but everything to gain."

Even from where Alex was sitting she could see the muscles in his jaw clench, the adam's apple in his throat bobbing up and down and the slightest, ever so slightest hint of trepidation in his is eyes from hearing his own words being thrown back at him. The same words he had spoken to her so many years ago. Kubra was afraid, if only just a little.

His broad muscular shoulders tightened "Too right you are Alex, Too right you are."


	4. Chapter 4

Tasha, Cindy, Lorna, and Suzanne had been floating adrift on their piece of driftwood for over two days. No longer floating among the wreckage, the four of them had drifted out to sea and were now but a speck inside of a vast and endless ocean. All of them tired, hungry, and slowly dying of thirst, Tasha wasn't sure if any of them were going to make it out of this alive. But still she tried her best to lift everyone's spirits by encouraging them to speak to one another. There were so many ways to die out here in the ocean. If starvation, thirst, or their wounds didn't kill them the sea creatures that lurked within the water certainly would. Tasha was terribly worried for her girls, Cindy and Suzanne. She had known them both prior to being on Alex's ship so her bond to them was much closer. Her attachment to Lorna was more dutiful in the sense that she had been a part of the Black Widow crew and Tasha did have a certain respect for Nicky. Nicky and Alex had put Tasha's skills with numbers to use and had put her in charge of the ship's finances. They had both given her life purpose elevated her to being something more than just a slave and she was thankful for that. Lorna was Nicky's girl. And out of respect for Nicky she felt it only necessary that she would watch out for her as well. Tasha felt a responsibility to all of them now to see them through this. As long as they remained alive the Black Widow was not dead.

But something needed to happen soon or else the four of them would not survive much longer. Or if they were going to die Tasha wished that death would be quick about it already. It was cruel to prolong the inevitable. Then again, Tasha believed that if they were meant to die then they would all be dead. After all they did manage to survive the Black Widow's destruction. If they were alive then perhaps death was not ready to take them just yet.

Tasha remembered the days back on the plantations and the friends she had made there. One person she would never forget was an elderly woman in her middle sixties named Claudette. Though Tasha wouldn't exactly call her friend she was an overflowing pot of wisdom and she was feisty. And though she was a slave she held a power all her own that made her seem untouchable even to the masters, and all the other slaves respected her. Claudette had a way of instilling a sense of dignity in the other slaves and giving them their own power. For some reason, and Tasha never new why, but Claudette always seemed to be the hardest on her, always pushed her the most. There were days when Tasha would be at her absolute worst and ready to give up, when death seemed so much sweeter than spending life forever as slave, and Claudette, always seemed to be right there to tell her what she needed to hear. She would always say,

_Tasha, be thankful to have opened your eyes to a new day. We are all put in this world to do things, big or small. Because you continue to live shows that you have been given another chance to fulfill your destiny._

Claudette's words have stayed with her ever since.

While Tasha encouraged everyone to talk to keep spirits up Lorna unfortunately was becoming an almost insufferable addition to their little crew because she wouldn't stop talking. When they had rescued her Tasha was a little surprised that she hadn't even mentioned Nicky. She had obviously been shaken up and traumatized by the ordeal, her eyes bloodshot from saltwater and tears. When she did talk about it though, it was strange how she would recall the whole incident, a stray cannonball that destroyed the ship. It was rather annoying how she treated the destruction of the Black Widow, like it was some unfortunate accident instead of a massacre. She wouldn't talk about the events that took place before then. Even when Tasha would bring it up, even when she would try to talk about Nicky, It was like she refused to listen, or she was listening but just not willing to accept the truth. But by the look on Lorna's face she knew she struck a nerve. Tasha supposed she should be thankful in a way because the whole incident was triggering for Suzanne and the last thing Tasha needed was another one of Suzanne's outbursts.

Early into the next day, a light fog began to pick up. Tasha was the first to wake and on instinct she checked on the others to see if they were all still breathing. She gave an inward sigh at seeing that they still were. But one more day out here was surely going to kill them and she prayed that some sort of help would arrive soon. And just like that something did.

Slowly creeping through the fog was ghostly silhouette of a large ship, waves crashing against the bow as it came closer and closer towards them, much too close, and Tasha and the other women were directly in it's path. Tasha sprung into action out of sheer panic and quickly woke the others up and out of their tired stupors.

"Cindy, Suzanne, wake up we have to move! We got to paddle!"

Everyone was still very groggy and weak. It took them all a moment to realize what was happening until they saw the large ship heading right towards them.

"Oh shit! Move!" Shouted Cindy as she started to paddle as fast and as hard as she could with her arms.

"Uh the ship's getting bigger!" Suzanne exclaimed.

"That's because it's getting closer c'mon Suzanne we got to get the fuck out of the way!"

"Perhaps we ought to wave our hands and yell for them to stop!" yelled Lorna, tired and out of breath as she paddled along with them.

"That ain't gonna do us any good if they crush us! C'mon!" Tasha screamed again.

The ship came closer and closer breaking through the fog revealing it's enormous shape. By the skin of their teeth the four women just barely made it out of the way in time. At the very last moment they were all forced to abandon the piece of driftwood, Tasha grabbing on to Suzanne just before the ship's bow broke it in half.

They were all left treading the water holding onto each other as they watched the ship slowly pass them by. It had several huge burgundy colored sails and on the largest sail, two black swords crossing at the blades and a black skull painted just above them. _More pirates_ Tasha thought, for a moment Tasha realized that they were saved. But the thought was fleeting and bittersweet for not all pirates would be as welcoming as Vause had been to them especially if you had a skin color such as hers.

She knew they had a choice to make. They could either take a chance and beseech the help of the ship that was right in front of them or she and the other girls would stay here and continue to drift out to sea. If they wanted to live, the former was the obvious best choice for they would not survive another day. But yet it would be a gamble to ask for this ship's help, if they be foe, then they were dead anyway.

Lorna had already beaten Tasha to it and started calling out for help and soon Suzanne, Cindy, and Tasha joined her. They called out as loud as they could, splashing and waving their arms around to get the ship's attention. At first it didn't seem to be working and their arms were growing tired until they all heard the sound of a man's voice calling out.

"Come about!" the man said, "There be four bodies overboard capn'!"

"All stop!" Shouted a chain of voices as orders were passed along the ship and echoing out through the water.

The ship had come to a complete stop and a rope ladder was thrown over the ship's side for Tasha and the others to grab hold. Peeping over the ship's ledge was a black bearded man with a dark brown tricorne, who recognized right away that they were all women and he called out to all of them down below.

"Grab hold lasses we'll hoist you up!"

For a moment Tasha's guard was lowered by the pleasant sound in his voice but she knew better than to trust so easily especially white men.

Tasha and Cindy let Suzanne and Lorna go up first and Cindy was the third, last was Tasha. She grunted as she made her way up the ladder "Damn Cindy you have a fat ass!" Tasha said as it was practically pushed up against her face.

"Your ass is bigger than mines, hell if you had a problem with it maybe you should've went up first."

"Shut up and climb! You almost there Suzanne?"

"I can see the top." she called down to them.

"Ugh I'm so tired and dizzy, I feel queasy, I need some food, or else I'm going to collapse right off this ladder." Lorna whined.

"Oh no, don't you do it, not while I'm right behind you. Collapse when you get on the ship. You fall, I am not catching your ass." said Cindy.

"You're really going to let me fall back into the water?" Lorna asked sounding completely appalled.

"Try it and see!"

"Fucking climb!" Tasha shouted.

They all scaled the rest of the way up the ship's ladder and the men that were on the ship were all too eager to help them on board. All four women tired and weak fell onto the deck and became surrounded by scruffy looking sailors. Standing in the center of them was the black bearded man wearing the dark brown tricorne. His beard was prickly and uncombed and looked like it would hurt to touch. He had a deep heavy scar across his nose and one of his eyes looked foggy and grey as if he might be blind. But he was looking right at them. He had a slimy sort of smile and by that alone Tasha had a feeling that they were in trouble and she was right.

"Well look at what we caught here mates, four new additions up for trade, you're lucky we found ya. Three blackies and a fair skinned beauty." He said in a raspy voice. "Might keep that one for meself."

Tasha lifted her head up "Trade?"

"Slave trade love, we're slavers. Our job is to make sure you ladies find a new home…for the right price of course." The captain laughed and the others joined him.

"Aww damn." Cindy growled under her breath.

The men rushed in, they harshly pulled them up on their feet and began to examine them as if they were cattle. They probed fingers in their mouths to check their teeth, looked at their arms and legs, and examined the scars on their backs, put their hands in places that were of an extreme violation, one that Suzanne was not taking very well at all. Tasha could see that Suzanne was going to snap as she kept muttering the word "no" over and over again, whether it be from the violation or the mention of slavers, either way it put Suzanne on edge. She locked her arms close to her body and started to hit herself.

"I'd say by your scars you lot are all too familiar with what the slave trade is." He chuckled. "Lock them up with the others." He said as he nodded back to his men.

Tasha started to fight back and punched a man square in the nose. She had spent the last couple of years as a free woman under Vause's leadership and she wasn't going back now. The other three women followed her lead and began to fight. Cindy speared a man to the floor while the gang of pirates piled right on top of her. Lorna screamed and started clawing and swinging at the men in front of her until one of them grabbed her and hoisted her up from behind. Suzanne had become wild, throwing mad punches at their faces, flipping the smaller men over and pounding her fists into their faces and stomachs. She was the hardest to get a hold of and it was taking every man they had to fight and bring her down.

The captain looked on in shock and barked orders for his men to get a hold of that "black animal." They seized whatever ropes that they could find. Tasha earned herself a bloody nose and a busted lip. Cindy, pinned to the floor under the weight of several men who were already tying her up, and there was Lorna kicking and screaming as they took her away.

Tasha saw how cruelly they were handling her friends especially Suzanne. She watched as they struck her repeatedly in the face and Tasha would scream and curse at them for them to stop. " Stop!" she cried

"You aint gotta fucking hit her leave her alone!"

It took all the men they had left to bring Suzanne down. She was tied up from her shoulders right down to her ankles. Even when Suzanne could no longer fight Tasha watched as two men hit her in the head just for sport. Before long it was over. All of them once again captured and imprisoned… on a slave ship… to god knows where.

* * *

Nightfall had finally come. Alex at last made it up the steps after having been released from her prison. She still felt fairly weak and without her glasses she was partially blind and left squinting at the shapes that were further away from her, her vision usually worse during the night hours. She held her injured arm close to her body and was careful not to move it so much. Outside, the light from the torches that were lit brightened up the deck drowning out the millions of stars in the sky, and giving off a primal setting on board the ship. Alex was met by two other men who flanked her sides and followed closely beside her as she made it up the rest of the way. They cleared a path for her towards Kubra and guided her through the throng of pirates that flooded the deck. Kubra stood right beside Stella both of them patiently waiting, all the pirates were crowding around him and the makeshift table he had created to display the map and other important documents splayed across it.

All the men that were present here weren't just from Kubra's ship. The Jackal had at last rendezvoused with it's sister ships, Kubra's fleet. It was a rather small group considering the number of ships Kubra commanded. To Alex's knowledge Kubra commanded about forty ships in total, some of which she knew by name like the Maidenhood and the Reckoning. About a third of his fleet was present this night. A third of his fleet and their captains. And though some of the captains were taller and bigger in size there was no mistaking that Kubra was still the one in charge.

Kubra's emotionless eyes had made contact with hers. It was a commanding glare that said that he wanted her standing at is left. Stella, who was standing at his right offered Alex the tiniest boastful smirk and Alex did her best to keep all of her more violent emotions in check. She answered Stella's smirk with a glowering look. There wasn't a person in the world that wanted Stella dead more than Alex did, but Alex had to remind herself to be patient. If she was to survive this, if she wanted revenge for Piper, if she wanted her plan to work, she needed to be smart. She needed to be strategic, pragmatic.

_Soon_ Alex thought _Soon I'll get my chance._

Alex took her place beside Kubra and continued to clutch onto her injured arm as Kubra smiled at her.

"Good of you to show your face Alex. It's nice to know that you're still the smart woman I know you are." He said in a low enough tone that was only meant for Alex to hear.

"I didn't exactly have much choice." she said evenly.

"Of course you did, it was either show your face or I rip your arm out of it's socket. The latter still stands if you disappointment me tonight. Do well and I might even get you a sling and proper living quarters. The choice is yours."

Alex didn't answer him and Kubra turned to face all of the men.

"Gentlemen it's good to see you all here! As you can all see our beloved Alexandria Vause, the prodigal daughter, my former quartermaster has returned to the fold. And we men of the Jackal crew, especially myself are most delighted to have her back."

Surprisingly all the men erupted into real cheers, cheers from all the men that were not of the Jackal, knowing only of her reputation and not what truly transpired for Alex to be here, what Kubra did to her. Not that they would've cared if they did know. In truth, cage or not, Alex was a prisoner. A bitter look had came upon Stella's face from hearing Kubra's announcement and at seeing the genuine admiration for Alex from all the men. Alex saw that she was jealous, but as Alex had told Stella once before, she couldn't give a fuck about her jealousy or anyone's admiration. She only cared about getting Piper back, it was the only thing that mattered to her.

"After many years of patience and waiting," Kubra went on, "Alex Vause has managed to decipher the riddles of the Mariner's Journal and she will service us all in being the map to the greatest treasure in the known world."

Kubra gently placed a hand on Alex's back and pushed her forward "Alex, if you please."

Alex took a moment to give a dull look at Kubra and then to all of the men. "The book opens with a prologue of sorts marking the island's location and the time frame in which we have to seek it out."

"It says, _I speak the curse of which she's bound, it is the blue moon upon which she is birthed, one period of life and fifty for death, make haste for though I am harmless I will kill her just as I kill all things—"_

"We only need the major details Vause," Stella said unable to resist a taunt "We don't need the novel."

Alex almost made an insulting comment right back at her but Kubra spoke up first "Hold your tongue. I don't believe anyone gave you permission to speak. Don't interrupt again."

Stella sucked in her lips and hung back a little as Kubra instructed.

"Good girl." Alex said throwing a taunt right back at her. Kubra discreetly grabbed Alex's broken arm and squeezed it hard. Alex winced and clenched her teeth together but then quickly regained her composure. Alex spoke in a business like tone, stating the facts and commanding the attention of everyone around her. "Like I was saying the book opens with a prologue_, beyond the black hole, through jagged teeth, and the realm of giants, keep your wits do not be fooled take heed and beware of the chimera."_

"I have personally come face to face with all three of these trials with my own crew, the black hole is referring to Tar Gyre." Alex said as she pointed to it's location on the map, "It is home to a vicious and large tentacled creature that could possibly still be alive but we were lucky enough to have bypassed it. The jagged teeth is this rock formation, Razor's Rock and it stretches across the ocean for miles, once we pass that, there's nothing but open sea, the Colossal Sea, and the creatures that live in it are ten, maybe twenty times their natural size but there are also other creatures, some that are unlike anything anyone has ever seen. Which brings me to the Chimera, my crew and I made the mistake of misinterpreting it's meaning. Once you sail into the Colossal Sea, the only island for many miles is Phantasmagoria, an island of illusion, inhabited by these creatures called Night Nymphs."

There was subtle laughter among the men. "They sound adorable." one of them jested.

"Don't fucking laugh." Alex said in a low tone "You haven't seen these things, you don't know what they can do."

"She's right." Stella said, surprisingly in agreement with Alex. But Alex knew it was only meant to regain some favor with Kubra. "I've seen them as well, vicious, playful, little creatures."

Alex continued, "They have the ability to impersonate living things and they feed off of fear. I've come face to face with one myself, and it would've killed me had it not been for—" her voice nearly croaked. "I still have the scars, some that cannot be seen. The point is, that island, those things, are not to be taken lightly. If we are to seek refuge on it then we must proceed with extreme caution."

"What of the island itself?" Kubra pressed "Tylassa, what did the book have to say about that." Kubra didn't sound the slightest bit concerned about any of the dangers that awaited them at all. All Kubra could see was the prize at the end, the ultimate prize. What he wanted, in his eyes, was far greater than a vast treasure chamber filled with gold. That was a prize reserved for the men, Kubra wanted the jewel, the light of Tylassa, the gift of immortality. Everyone present on this ship sought something that the island could provide. The men, who desired it's golden treasure chamber making them richer than any king or queen, Alex who sought the Pool of Souls to bring back her true love, Kubra who desired the jewel that granted immortality, and Stella, Stella who Alex was starting to realize wanted something else, something deeper, and it wasn't gold, and she wasn't going to find it on Tylassa. But that didn't earn her any sympathy from Alex. Alex couldn't care less for what any of them wanted.

"The island is well guarded," Alex said. "In the book it says, _beware Tylassa's gills for they protect her and the home in which she dwells, the temple that kisses the clouds. It lives and moves by twenty. Seek her mark and you will find your path to the treasure in which you seek, all others are death certain. _I'm still not sure what all of that means but I'll probably have better understanding of it once we get there. But first we have to get there."

Kubra scratched his beard as he pondered over all of Alex's information. His eyes wandered around the map as he thought and everyone stayed silent. "We have seven months," He finally said "Seven months to find the island and reap our rewards. Time is precious but there's too much opposition in the direction of Tar Gyre with Litchman's Island not being too far off. Patrol ships and bounty hunters wander the seas like pests now and Litchman's Island is now a hive for all of them. And as much as you all and I love killing these blue blooded and annoying fucks…"

They all laughed in agreement. "We will sail further east around Tar Gyre, to avoid unnecessary conflict. It will take us out of the way from our intended course. But with the ocean's current here," He said as he pointed again at the map "We can pick up lost time and reach Razor's Rock. The rock formations will be much thinner here making it easier for all of our ships to sail through."

Stella gave another arrogant look towards Alex as if to say I told you so. Alex gave her a slight frown to go along with her deadpan expression. _Soon,_ she kept telling herself, _soon. _As Kubra continued to talk Alex's mind drifted elsewhere, she thought of Piper. Instead of focusing on her death she instead focused on the much more fonder memories of her, her beautiful smile and the way her eyes lit up when she did, her beautiful long blonde hair and how it felt to run her hand through it, her laugh.

She remembered how they would lie in bed together, her head in Piper's lap while Piper would read a book she had chosen from her shelf and would stroke a hand idly through Alex's hair. They didn't talk, they didn't need to talk. And when Piper wasn't paying attention Alex would steal a chance to just look up at her and watch as the wrinkles of her eyebrows pushed together when she concentrated on the pages. She remembered how she would tease her by poking a playful finger in her face as she tried to distract her which made Piper giggle and push Alex away. "Stop it Alex," she had said though it was hardly convincing. "Unless you're going to do something with that let me read." Alex smiled to herself at the memory but the smile slowly faded. Alex only felt at ease when Piper was around, always slept better when Piper was around. Now she felt as if she would never know peace again.

_Soon,_ Alex thought, _soon._


	5. Chapter 5

Taka and his older brother Huten, two young men armed with spears and nets, walked along the shore of the island that was their home. Huten, was a young man in his early twenties, brown skinned, of average build and muscular, his body, a map of little and fairly big scars that had been inflicted by a dagger. One of his arms was covered in a sleeve of tribal tattoos. He was bald save for the patch of short black wooly locks that seemed to sprout out the top of his head. Taka, was a boy of only fifteen. Half of his head was shaven and the other half was covered in a long thick wooly mane of locks that looked more like yarn than hair. As they walked along the shore of the beach, they talked amongst each other to each other as they set out to catch some fish.

"Soon marks the day of your birth brother, have you chosen the one who is to be your mate yet?" Huten asked.

Taka made a show of flipping his spear as his brother spoke "Is this why you chose me to help you in gathering fish for the village? So that we might once again discuss the ceremony? It is many moons away. Why do you insist?"

"Because soon you will become a man and every man needs a mate. You must claim one. Someone who is your equal and can bear you strong sons and beautiful daughters."

"I have not seen a woman such as that within the village that is to my liking. I wait for the one that the gods will send for me. The one that I see often in my sleep."

"Bah! Taka, once more you speak of the dream?"

"It is not a dream, it is a message from the gods, I know this. I dreamt of her for the third time in the past month, eyes like the clearest blue water and—"

"And hair like yellow straw but soft as animal fur." Huten taunted as he playfully twirled a hand through one of his brother's locks before lightly pushing him. "My brother, your dream woman is just that, a dream, there is no one like that in our village."

"What of the pale giant, Ootanawe? He is of blue eyes and yellow hair?"

"I thought your mate was to be a woman? You have now taken a liking to Ootanawe?" Huten laughed "I do not think Neri will approve."

Taka pushed his brother back "She _is_ a woman, and I believe she is real, why else would the gods show me a vision of her in my dreams. If the gods have sent us Ootanawe, a mate for Neri, then maybe they will send me the one who is to be my destiny as well."

"You will be waiting for this woman for a very long time, Taka."

"Then a long time I will wait, for she is worth it."

Huten shook his head. "We will cast our nets here, the fish seem the most plentiful."

They both planted their spears into the sand, unraveled their net and put it into position. Afterward they plucked their spears from the ground and began to sharpen their points.

"All right Taka, let us say this woman of your dreams is real, how do you know this vision that the gods have sent you is because she is to be your mate?"

"Because when I see her in my dreams she is holding my hand, she smiles down at me and it is the most beautiful smile in the world. Then as she holds my hand she leans down and she kisses my forehead."

"She is a tall woman?"

"Yes."

"And this vision, in your dreams, is how you know she is to be yours?" Huten asked.

"What else could it mean?"

"I don't know, I am not the gods. But I just don't want you to make the mistake of misinterpreting this dream of yours. Everything does not always mean what you think it means."

"She is to be my mate, I know it. And one day I will see her."

"Yes, my brother, whatever you say. I think maybe you should speak to Tiwa about the dream that you've been having."

"Tiwa doesn't interpret dreams."

"No, but maybe she can offer you a bit of clarity since I am unable to do so."

"I don't need Tiwa to tell me what I know is true."

Huten stopped sharpening his spear and held up a hand in defeat, for he could tell that he was only upsetting his brother. "Okay no more, I do not wish to fight with you about it. Let us just do what we came here to do."

Taka nodded with finality as if to say that he no longer wanted to discuss the subject anymore. He understood his brother's concerns but Taka knew the dream was real, that the woman with the ocean blue eyes was real. He felt it in his spirit. For the next hour Taka and Huten used their spears and nets to collect up a nice bounty of fish. Both of them expertly thrusting their spears into the water impaling one, two, and even three fish at a time. After a couple of hours of walking up and down the shore collecting fish they tied their nets ready to return home. Just as they were about to leave Taka caught sight of something out on the beach. A bunch of seagulls were flocked together around a large piece of driftwood not far from the shoreline squawking around and flapping their wings.

"Taka, come let's go!" his brother called out to him.

"Look at the birds." Taka implored his brother.

"Scavengers." Huten insisted "Must be a dead animal. Leave nature to take it's course."

"Must be a large animal, it's a lot of birds." Taka said curiously "Could be good for the village. More food to last."

Huten gave a light shoulder shrug that said he had a point and gradually started to place the net of fish on the ground. The two of them moved towards the driftwood and started to shoo away the seagulls with their spears. The closer they got the more they were able to see what was buried underneath the rubble, there was an arm and a leg partially peaking out from under it. White skin that was covered with scrapes and deep blood bruises.

"It is a body." Huten stated simply "And from what it seems, a dead one."

Taka came a little closer and moved some of the driftwood out of the way.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting a better look." Taka said as he moved more of the rubble. After he peeled back a very large piece, the rest of the body revealed itself. It was severely battered and bruised along with the face that Taka saw it belonged to.

"It is a woman." Taka said in astonishment. "And she is hurt….very badly." One of her eyes was swollen shut, and along with the bruises there were cuts all over her face that were dried with crusted blood, lips were swollen, dried, and cracked. Her hair was chopped and uneven barely brushing her neck, dried out and stiff like straw and speckled with blood, it stuck to some of the wounds on her face. This woman's body was broken and lifeless.

"Let us go Taka, the body is dead, let the birds return to their meal" Taka ignored his brother and squinted his eyes at the body as if he were waiting for something to happen, but the woman was lying so still that she very well looked to be dead but something inside Taka was not convinced. He placed a hand on the body and closed his eyes. There was…something, it was very faint but he could feel something. "I think she's still breathing." He placed his finger up under the woman's nose.

"She _is_ still breathing, if only just a little. Come see."

"Taka" his brother chastised.

"Come see."

Huten did as his brother asked and then he too felt the slight bit of air that came from beneath the woman's bloodied nose. "Impossible, we've had men in the village with injuries such as hers, just as grave as hers, she should very well be dead."

"Well if we leave her here she very well will be. She needs water. She is hanging on by a mere thread. And we need to get this piece of wreckage off of her, it might help her breath better. Help me with it."

Huten did and the two of them lifted the remaining driftwood away from the body. Taka took in the full sight of the woman's nearly naked body, covered only by tattered filthy brown rags. "We must find a way to take her back to the village."

"And how do you propose we do that and bring back the loads of fish?"

"We come back. You can deliver the fish back to the village."

"By myself?"

"Yes, someone needs to stay here and watch over her, otherwise another animal could come by and finish her off. While you're gone I will quickly make a bed for her so that we can lift her up and take her back with us."

Huten sighed, "Taka she is but a breath away from death, we may only be prolonging the inevitable, she may die on the way back."

"No. This one is strong, you saw, she still draws breath, she fights. You said it yourself she should be dead, but yet she still lives. We should help."

"Very well," Huten conceded "I'll return but if she dies do not say that I did not warn you." Huten proceeded to hoist up the nets of fish and started to walk back down the beach towards the village. Before Taka started to set to work on building the woman a makeshift bed he sat there and looked at her a little while longer. He slowly reached out again to touch what was left of her yellow hair. He lifted up the eyelid of her good eye and saw that though it was bloodshot they were a beautiful colored blue, like the ones of the woman he saw in his dreams. This shocked him.

It was her, the woman of his dreams. She didn't look at all like the beautiful woman he had seen in his visions but it had to be her. It had to be. And right then Taka knew that he was meant to help her, he had to help her, the gods have finally brought her to him, and she was meant to be his.

* * *

Drawing close to midday Piper had suddenly awoke from the nightmare that she just had. A horrible dream about rabid wolves that ravaged her body as she crawled along the dirt floor to get to Alex who stood by helplessly watching. She could still feel their teeth and claws raking across her skin drawing blood and tearing her to pieces, her insides sprawled across the floor but yet she would not die. It was the dream that had shocked her back into the land of the living and the excruciating pain she felt coursing throughout her body. She clenched her teeth and winced at the burning sensation she felt in her chest. For a time she remained still and stared up at a ceiling that looked to be made of a combination of sticks and leaves with small beams of sunlight breaching through the cracks. Piper winced as she slowly started to curl her body forward and realized she was on a bed of animal pelts. As she looked around she noticed that it wasn't just the roof that was covered in sticks and leaves, it was an entire hut, large enough to fit perhaps up to ten people and she was lying in one of it's beds. There was another one across from her that was big enough to fit two people and beside it was a small bassinet of sorts filled with straw. There were clay bowls both large and small spread all around and strange looking wooden masks that gave an odd resemblance to certain animals. This was someone's home and it was clearly occupied. A slight paranoia had settled in, for Piper had no idea where she was or how she came to be here. The last thing Piper did remember was that horrible evening on board the Black Widow.

She remembered Stella betraying them. She remembered Kubra's face and what he and his men did to her, what they did Alex. Piper remembered hearing the sound of her own bones breaking and she remembered Alex's face as they forced her to watch. And as she relived those memories Piper became angry, so much so that tears burned the corners of her eyes.

Not waiting around to find out if whoever brought her here was truly friend or foe, she started to move her body as best as she could. She saw that her entire torso had been wrapped in bandages save for one spot that was covered by a large leaf drenched in a sticky sap that smelled of mint. It hurt badly. With a shaky hand Piper slowly peeled back the leaf and saw the raw and red puncture wound just above her breast and then reapplied it. There wasn't a single part of her body that wasn't wrapped or splinted and when she reached up to touch her face she felt the swollen and torn skin and she no longer felt her hair brushing up against her neck. She saw that she wasn't dressed. She was completely naked save for the cloth underwear she wore and all of the bandages that covered her body, she looked like a leper. When she drew back the animal hide that covered her body she saw that her legs were a ghastly sight, blue and black bruises covering the length of them. One of them were splinted.

In front of her was a door covered in a curtain of strips of green leaves, Piper decided to make a break for it. Only, when she rolled out of bed, she collapsed down to the floor and landed flat on her face and stomach. It hurt like hell and she cried out at the pain. She barely had the muscle strength to lift herself up and her legs were practically useless, so terribly sore and throbbing. But Piper didn't let that stop her. She used her arms and started to drag herself towards the exit. There was a wooden staff not far from the bed and Piper started to push herself towards it and towards the wall of the hut. When she managed to reach it, with one hand Piper grabbed the staff and with her other she held onto the wall until she had finally managed to make herself stand up on her damaged legs.

With the help of the staff Piper continued to walk out, every step hurt and took so much effort out of her. Her body felt sore all over but despite the pain Piper kept moving. She inched her body little by little. Her skin and muscles were on fire and she mentally cursed every time she felt the sting of her wounds.

At last she made it and with two more feeble steps Piper stepped through the curtain only to lose her footing and stumble right through. To her shock, not only did she stumble through but she realized that the hut she was in wasn't even on the ground, she was in a tree hundreds of feet above it actually. The staff she was using had slipped from her hands and fell all the way down to the forest floor. When she looked up she was shocked to see an entire society of brown-skinned people dressed in loin cloths and cloth underwear similar to the one Piper was wearing. They were all living in huts built into the canopy of the trees, connected by rope bridges. They walked along with baskets of food atop their heads, talking to one another and laughing, small children running along the rope bridges and the some of the adult men and women she saw effortlessly scaling up the trees by foot to get to their homes. Colorful birds flew by in groups and some of the people that Piper saw were tossing food around for the them to catch. Where the hell was she?

A sickening feeling of being at the edge of the hut and a breath away from falling over caused Piper to scamper back, too frightened to notice her pain. As she did she looked over and saw a young man with a half shaven head, the other half was a thick mane of wooly locks. He was lightly muscled and average height. The mask he wore was frightening, slanted angry eyes and a large sharp toothy grin that was carved across the mask's face. He walked with a spear and was carrying something in a little tan sack. Piper could see through the slants of the mask's eyes the boy's dark brown ones and he was watching her.

Piper froze up. The boy set down his spear, removed his mask, and placed them both against the hut. He purposefully started to move towards her. Piper started to scurry back as best as she could and even tried to fight him off as the boy tried to put his hands on her.

"Get the fuck off of me!"Piper yelled in a panic. But the boy did not listen, either he didn't understand her or he didn't care. Piper scrambled all the way back into the hut all the while the boy kept trying to get a grip on Piper.

"Fuck off, get away from me! Don't touch me! Don't you fucking touch me!" Piper couldn't put up the best fight. But the boy seemed to understand her distress and discomfort so he backed off for moment and held his hands up in front of her to show that he wished no fight and seemed to hunch a little so as to not seem so threatening. Piper though, wasn't having it.

"You stay right where you are, don't touch me!" She screamed. "Leave me alone!"

The boy tried again and Piper grew more frantic. He was trying to get a firm hold on her but then Piper scampered out from under him and rolled over to one side. She started to crawl towards the wall to get back up on her feet. She did and tried to once again to break for the door. Suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks.

There, coming through the doorway was a fairly big, heavy-set looking man who looked nothing like any of the people she saw outside. He had scraggly long hair that was blonde like hers and a thick beard to match. He had calm clear blue eyes and a nice, warm, smile on his face. He was topless, had a hairy chest, and the only thing he wore was a simple tan loin cloth. Piper's eyes grew wide and began to tear, her jaw dropped and her lower lip trembled in shock, she was suddenly aware of all the pain she was in and she nearly collapsed to the floor.

"Piper! You finally woke up!"

Piper gasped out a breath and tried to fix her mouth to speak. She looked like she had seen a ghost and perhaps she was.

The man gestured out a hand towards the boy behind her "I see you met Taka. He brought you some food just in case you did. He thought you might be hungry."

Piper began to cry, her voice shuddered as she practically gasped out her words "Ca—Cal, you—"

He held his hands up in an effort to keep Piper calm "I know, I know this is a lot to take in right now, you're stressed, you're in a lot of pain, and I know you're confused but let's just get you back in the bed, dress you up, and we can talk about everything okay? We can even see what Taka brought you and talk it over a good meal."

And then suddenly, Piper fainted.

Cal looked down at her, "Oh no, beloved sister? Piper?…Piper?"


	6. Chapter 6

Piper found herself once again waking up in the unfamiliar bed and her unfamiliar surroundings, staring up at the stick and straw covered roof of the hut. And upon waking, once again her anger and paranoia had sparked anew.

"I am so sick of closing my eyes and waking up in new places." Piper muttered angrily to herself.

"Piper?" came a man's voice. "Are you awake now?"

She turned her head to the side and saw her brother Cal seated off to the side in a simple arm chair made of sticks and strips of grass that were holding it together at its joints. Her brother Cal, who for many years she had thought to be dead, now sitting not too far from her, very much alive and still breathing. Shockingly Piper didn't feel joy at seeing him again, she felt anger and hurt. Her lips tightened together in a frown. She wanted to punch him in his fat bearded face. If only she had the strength to do so.

"So it wasn't a dream." Piper said harshly "It really is you."

"It's good to see you too dear sister." Cal's head wandered sheepishly to the floor "Listen Piper, I know you have a lot of questions."

"Oh I have tons." Piper growled "I'm just trying to work out which ones I want to ask first. I'm still trying to process all of this shit." Piper struggled to sit herself up, the muscles in her arms were so weak and she felt stinging, aching, pain with even the slightest bit of movement. She hadn't even noticed the young man from earlier standing nearby earnestly coming towards her to help hoist her up. Piper jumped and jerked away from him.

"And you, get the hell away from me! Get away from me. Don't touch me! I don't want anyone touching me!"

"Piper that's Taka, he and his older brother were the ones that found you and brought you here."

"I don't care who he is I said don't touch me!"

Cal made a motion with his hands signaling for Taka to take a step back and give Piper some room "Relax, take a deep breath, you're safe now. No one is going to hurt you."

Piper was feeling overwhelmed, her breathing quickened, and all of her questions came rushing out "Cal start talking! Where am I? Who are these people?! Why are you here?! This is all too much. My fucking chest hurts."

"Piper you have to calm down, slow your breathing down."

She shut her eyes and tried to concentrate. Even breathing hurt and she could feel her wounded ribs. Piper spoke again, her voice tight with the sharp pain she felt in her body. "What are you doing here Cal? Where am I?"

"I'm going to tell you everything okay. But we really have to tend to your wounds first. You've been shot in your chest and that needs to be stitched, you've got broken bones that need to be re-wrapped, and you've also got some pretty bad cuts all over your body that need to be re-dressed and stitched also. And then after we'll eat what Taka brought you and I'll tell you everything and anything you want to know then. Is that fine? I know you're hungry."

Piper calmed down a little at the mention of food, she was hungry and it gave her a headache. She slowly nodded and then looked over at Taka "I don't want him touching me."

"That's fine we'll get some of the healers in the village to come in and do it, all right?"

Piper nodded again. Her eyes stayed on Taka eyeing him cautiously.

Cal pointed over his back with his thumb "Okay, then. I'm going to go and get them and then I'll be back later so we can talk." Cal waved a hand for Taka to follow him out. Taka looked reluctant to do so and seemed almost persistent in staying but Cal gave him a look that seemed to say that it was most definitely not a good idea at the moment and it would be better if he left.

* * *

A while later four middle aged women full breasted and in simple tribal garb came inside the hut with a large clay wash basin filled with water and their arms stuffed with plants, herbs, clay bottles filled with strange smelling tonics and small bowls filled with odd pastes. The women were all warm and welcoming smiles to Piper's scowling bruised and battered up face. Piper was slightly annoyed by them.

She flinched as they made contact with her skin when they unraveled her bandages, cleaned, and re-dressed her wounds. All the while the women smiled at her with their gapped toothed grins as if they were trying to lift her spirits. Piper just sat there stone faced and wincing at their insistent gentle yet forceful dabbing and cleaning. She just wasn't in a smiling mood and probably never would be again. She only tolerated what was happening now because it was something that needed to be done. In truth despite the questions she wanted answered, Piper truly just wanted to be left alone.

As the women cleaned her up and rubbed their ointments and sticky pastes into her wounds Piper happened to look down at her left forearm at one of her more distinct and exposed injuries, the ornate letter "P" that had been so viciously branded into her upturned forearm by Kubra himself. The sight of it brought back a flood of painful memories and for a moment she was back aboard the Widow reliving those horrible final hours. She remembered Alex desperately pleading for her life as they nearly beat her to death. Alex begging despite the harm it would bring to herself, the tears on her face as she begged. Piper's own helplessness to save the woman she loved as that giant of a man broke Alex's arm. She could still see it so clearly in her head.

In the entire time that those men were beating Piper, torturing her, tearing her clothes from her body to further her humiliation, Piper was certain that she was going to die. In a way she accepted it, she only wished that Alex didn't have to see it. She wished she could've spared her that much at least. She didn't want her death to be Alex's final memory of her. But since Alex was forced to bear witness to it, Piper tried to take the only shred of comfort she could from such a horrible situation. As much as she did not want Alex to see, she chose instead to seek comfort in knowing that at least she would not be alone when she died. In between the heavy punches to her face and the sound of her bones breaking beneath their fists and boots she focused on Alex to distract her from the pain. When their eyes would meet, like the many times that they made love and Piper saw that mirror image of the beauty, awe, and love that was imprinted on Alex's face, Piper once again had seen her own reflection in Alex, filled with tearful sorrow and helplessness. The pain was shared, they were suffering through this together. Through love and pain they suffered together.

Had they traded places Piper wouldn't have been any different, she wouldn't have been able stand it. It would've killed her. There is no greater pain in the world than being unable to protect the ones you love.

Piper thought about Nicky and the final words she spoke before Kubra fired that killing shot into her head. _She's our sister _Nicky had said. Despite everything, those words meant a lot and Piper could feel her eyes starting to water as she recalled them, right down to the sound of Nicky's voice. She cried even harder from the feeling of letting Nicky down.

One of the women began dabbing at Piper's face. She flinched and it brought her out of her thoughts. The woman proceeded to wrap up Piper's branded skin and Piper was all too happy to have it out of her sight. But even though she couldn't see it, she knew it was there and she still felt it's burn, a constant reminder of her pain and failures, and soon to be a permanent scar.

She leaned forward to grab the wash basin and she hesitantly looked inside the bowl. The sudsy water sloshed around and Piper focused her vision as best she could to get a clear visual of her face. Her reflection was slightly warped but she could still make out her severely beaten face, covered in cuts and bruises. Her hair had been cut uneven and so short that she could almost pass for a boy. She had a jagged crescent shaped cut around her right eye, another prominent one on the corner of the left side of her lips, and a heavy deep blood bruise under her eye that was swollen. Piper thought she looked absolutely hideous, not even she could recognize a single part of herself in her own reflection that looked anything like her old self. She pushed the bowl away.

When the women were finished one of them handed Piper a small bowl of steaming brown liquid with tiny little leaves floating on top of it. She urged Piper to drink it. Before she did Piper sniffed it first. It smelled a little like cinnamon, cinnamon and some other fragrances that Piper couldn't make out. She took a tiny sip and found that it most certainly was cinnamon, cinnamon and a little bit of honey. It tasted good going in, it made her feel warm all over but then it finished off with a slightly bitter after taste that made Piper contort her face.

Moments later Cal came back and slowly peeped his head through the grass curtain doorway of the hut. "All right Pipes I'm coming back in," he said as he started to walk through the door "I saw all the healers leaving, so I just…kind of assumed." Cal pulled up the chair and took a seat. Piper just watched him and continued to sip her tea. Whatever this tea was she could already feel her muscles relaxing and her soreness starting to dull.

There was an awkward silence between them and Cal tried to lead the conversation with small talk. "How are you doing Piper?"

"What are you doing here Cal?" Piper asked, going right for the throat.

"I told you I'd be back to talk to you." Cal said innocently.

"You know what I mean, I mean what are you doing here? How are you here? You're supposed to be dead. You've been gone for years how is it that you are here?"

"I know you're upset with me Piper and I can't say that I blame you. I can only imagine what you're thinking and what you've gone through to even end up here. And believe me I've got questions for you as well because I got to say I am just astonished," Cal said with a scoff and a laugh, "That you, you're here, right now of all places."

"Where is here?"

"The Shikari Isles."

"Where is that on the map?"

"Well it's a good ways from civilization I'll tell you that. If I had to pin point exactly where we are I'd say pretty far east, hundreds of miles out. In short, the middle of nowhere. You're a long way from Imperial Terra that's for sure. Those people you saw out there and Taka, they all live here. They're called the Bantu, the people of the trees, so named for obvious reasons."

"They're not cannibals are they?" Piper asked dryly.

"Uh no. No they're not." Cal said, unsure if she was joking or not.

"That's a relief I guess. I believe you were going to explain to me how it is that you're here and why you've been faking your death all these years. I swear Cal if I weren't in so much pain I would seriously kill you right now."

"You're right, how's this? I tell you my story and then you tell me yours, because I really, really want to know how my beloved sister wound up all the way out here. And I don't think my story is going to be half as interesting as yours."

"We'll see." Piper said as she sipped more of her tea.

Cal hollered back through the door in a language that Piper couldn't understand and in walked the young boy known as Taka. In his hands he carried two large plates of fish three in each plate, well cooked and arranged neatly on a bed of leaves and herbs. He handed one to Cal and then carefully placed the other one down in front of Piper. The kid seemed so nervous with her, it was like he was trying to make himself appear smaller and less threatening so as to not make Piper feel uncomfortable.

"Thanks Taka," Cal said as he immediately bit off one of the fish's heads. "All right so where do I begin."

Taka gently bobbed his head down at Piper's plate and then back up at Piper's face. He gently motioned with his hands for her to take a bite. Piper's eyebrows came together and she looked at him as if he were the strangest little man she had ever met. He gestured at her again, a little more persistently, and Piper set down her tea. She picked up one of the fish and took a bite and made a show of chewing it. Anything to get this kid out of her face. The boy's eyes seemed to light up with approval and he finally stepped back and stood guard at the door.

"So," Cal started "I don't need to remind you of the way our family works. Mother and father were so persistent in strengthening the family lineage and all of that. You knew how it was, we were told of the houses we were going to be married into, who we were going to marry. Back when it was the three of us, you know, Daniel, you, and I, Daniel was the favored child and son and you were father's most favored daughter."

Piper just made a face at the mention of being Byll's favorite daughter. "That title is far gone." she muttered.

"Well mother and father were so invested in you and Daniel, no one really gave a shit about what I was doing. I was allowed to just fuck off, collect rats, toads, climb trees, whatever. Until Daniel died and all of a sudden it was 'Creative Cal' and the next thing I know father's telling me that I have to marry Lady Gabriella in Witchmont."

Cal shrugged his shoulders with his palms turned up "I never even met the woman. I mean at least you and Laurent met when you were children and were roughly the same age. So after I was told about the marriage I decided to go to father one night to talk about it and I also find out that my wife to be wasn't even a fully grown woman yet. She was twelve years old and apparently father had received word that she had flowered which was why he was so keen on shipping me off to marry her."

"The night before I was supposed to sail, father and I had a fight in the study. I told him I didn't want to marry her and I didn't think she'd be too fond of marrying me either. But father didn't care. He said it wasn't about 'want' I'll never forget what he told me that night. He said if you don't do this for your family than you might want to consider finding yourself a new one."

"He said that to you?" Piper asked softly.

Cal's face frowned a little and ate another bite of his fish. "He did." He said plainly.

"After that I made the choice to not go through with it. I didn't know how I was going to do it, I just knew that I wasn't going to marry Gabriella. I was never cut out for royalty anyway. You and Daniel were far better at it than me. But the difference between you and Daniel was that Daniel was comfortable with that life, I think he genuinely enjoyed it, he wanted it. You on the other hand were just very good at doing what you were told. You weren't just the princess of Imperial Terra, you were father's princess. It was like watching you play a role. But every now and then the real you, that restless part of you, would tend to show up. So on one hand I'm surprised that you're here but also I can honestly say I felt something was going to happen with you, I wasn't expecting this but…something."

"But anyway," He said after a brief pause "As I sailed to Witchmont, there was a storm, a very violent storm. Lightning struck the ship and the whole thing erupted into flames. A lot of men died and I managed to survive by holding on to a piece of wreckage. Like you, I somehow ended up here where I met the Bantu…and…my wife."

Piper nearly choked on her food. "You got married?"

Cal grinned "I did, her name is Neri, she's amazing and you'll love her. We even have a kid together, a little girl. You'll meet them soon. You're an aunt Piper! I know, more shocking news to add to your situation."

Piper sat stunned, her mind was still taking it all in.

"Turns out father shipping me off to Witchmont and that storm all worked in my favor, had I not, I never would've met my true bride or have this great life that I do now. Friends, family, I have it all."

"I was your family," Piper said, her voice cracking with emotion. "You left me Cal, I was alone. We thought you were dead." She pointed a finger to her chest. "I thought you were dead. Do have any idea how much that hurt and what I went through after you were gone. It was only me! Alone in that castle!"

"I know, believe me, I never meant to hurt you Piper. I didn't want to leave you. But I made a choice not to go back after that. I knew what I would be leaving behind. I didn't want to leave my sister but I wanted a life of my own as well and if I went back it wasn't going get any easier. That night in the study, father showed me who he was. It told me everything. And I decided that I didn't want to be father, I was going to choose my own life. And…I'm happy with my choice."

"You could've wrote, you could've said something." Piper seethed.

Cal was already shaking his head "C'mon Piper, with the way the guards patrol the castle, even writing exclusively to you would've been too risky, and word would've gotten out that I was still alive, father would've sent search parties. The way I see it Prince Calvin Chapman of Imperial Terra had to die in order to become Ootanawe. I had to let my old life go so that I can have this one."

"Oota— Ootanawe?" Piper asked.

"It is what they call me: The pale giant, Ootanawe." Cal held his head down "I'm really sorry Pipes. But I've missed you a lot. I am happy to see you. I thought about you a lot, wondered what you were doing."

"I've missed you too Cal. I'm angry at you but I am happy to see you too."

"So…does this mean I can give you a real hug now? Maybe we can get a proper reunion going?"

Piper nodded as the tears started running down her face. Cal was careful in his approach as he stood up from his chair. Then he sat down on the bed and slowly reached in to hug his sister. She hugged him back and the tears really started to fall. Memories came back to her of all the other times she had hugged her brother, he smelled of the trees and of nature itself and it was soothing. The hug was gentle enough to not break Piper's ribs and injure her further but still so strong and comforting. Her brother was alive, her brother was alive, right here, and happy.

Looking over Cal's shoulder Piper saw Taka posted by the door looking back at her. "Why does that kid keep looking at me?"

Cal pulled back and looked behind him "Taka? Oh. I think he might feel a little protective of you. He's been with you ever since you got here."

Piper's eyebrows scrunched together. "Well, tell him to stop, it's rude."

Cal spoke in the boy's language telling him to just wait outside for a while. Once again, Taka reluctantly did so.

"All right. I told you my story. Now, you've got to tell me yours I need to know. How does the princess of the Imperial Terra wind up all the way out here in the middle of nowhere? What happened?"

Cal took a step back to sit back in his chair and Piper moved the fish aside to sip more of her tea.

Piper's voice was soft as she started to recall the series of events, both loving and heartbreaking. "Well, it's a long story going back to about a year and half ago. It starts with a dare and a pirate. A beautiful pirate…named Alex Vause, and a kidnapping."

Cal's eyes widened as he got more comfortable in the chair. "Okay, you've certainly got my attention, go on."


	7. Chapter 7

"Okay so let me just make sure that I understand all of this and just stop and tell me if I'm getting any of this wrong." Cal said as he scrunched his face together thoughtfully and made himself even more comfortable.

"You snuck out of our father's castle in the middle of the night, went to a tavern where you ended up meeting the legendary, terrible, and ruthless pirate Captain Vause. The same Captain Vause father had been trying to capture for years who also turned out to actually be a woman who goes by the full name Alexandria Vause but prefers to be called Alex. Do I have it right so far?"

Piper nodded so Cal went on "So the two of you have this great night together, she takes you back home only to kidnap you two days later and since then you've encountered, violent storms, being shipwrecked, cannibals, sea monsters, one of which that nearly crushed you to death and another that nearly ate you alive. And also during your time with her you realized that the ruthless pirate Vause wasn't so ruthless after all and eventually you fell in love with her which was pretty bad considering you were engaged to Laurent at the time. Still doing good?"

She nodded again "Wow, okay. But things got worse because Alex didn't know that you sent for father's help by writing a letter to him and you did him the favor of telling him where to find the largest pirate haven in the known world and of course Alex was upset with you when she found out and was captured by your fiancé and you were all taken back to Imperial Terra where Alex was taken to trial and sentenced to die. But then you saved her, a revolt had started, and then she saved you from marrying Laurent and in the end you chose to leave with her.

Cal looked at Piper for confirmation and Piper took a small sip of her tea. She winced in pain but gave another small nod. Cal let out an exhausted breath "But things still got worse because not long after you left with Alex you both found out that her former captain…captain…dammit what did you say his name was…sounded like a snake or something?"

"Kubra."

"Oh right, right Kubra was hunting you both down to capture Alex and kill you to hurt her and punish you for what happened at Litchman's Island to which he almost succeeded. I'm saying almost because obviously you're still here. But the reason he found you both in the first place was because of a woman named Stella who started a mutiny along with a few others and brought you both right to him." Cal saw the quick flash of anger in Piper's eyes and watched her body tense up at the mention of the name Stella.

"And that's how you ended up here washed up on the shore. Everyone including Alex most likely thinks your dead, your girlfriend has been kidnapped by Kubra and he's going to use her to get to an island called Tylassa because she is the map to get there."

"Holy fuck that is one hell of a story Pipes. So… what's the plan? What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to rest here and wait for my body to heal I guess."

"No, I mean… after that. Once you're rested. What are you going to do? Clearly this isn't the end of the story. You have to finish it."

Piper became silent and looked saddened by what she was about to say. "I'm not going to do anything. That's the plan."

"You're not going to do anything?" Cal asked in a dull yet perplexed tone.

"You heard me."

"I heard you, I just…really? This is it?"

She was silent again and then she briefly looked away as if she was ashamed of her answer. "I think… I think this is where the story ends for me."

"But I thought you said your girlfriend was in trouble? That she's been kidnapped?"

"And she'll be in worse trouble if I try and help her. Look It's not that I don't want to it's just, every time I try to do something right, somehow I manage to fuck up. There's no point. I'll just make things worse. I'm good at making things worse. I can't save her. I'm not fit to save her. I'm not strong enough."

"This is a new hat you're putting on, I've never known you to just give up Piper. "

"Well I am. I'm done. I think it's time I just stopped. I've been beaten in more ways than one."

"C'mon Pipes, I may not know the full extent of what went on with you in the past year and half but surely—"

"I'm done Cal. I'm finished. I'm tired of trying." She shook her head and licked her lips. "I've hurt people, I've let people down time and time again. I hurt my former fiancé Laurent, father has completely disowned me and from what I was told I am as good as dead to him, I've destroyed people's lives, caused the deaths of hundreds of people."

"I tried to make things right. I did, I really tried. And you know something? For a while I thought I was, for the first time since I left Imperial Terra to be with Alex, I started to feel like I was truly where I was supposed to be, I started to feel like I was a part of something. Nicky entrusted me to be the one to look after Alex and everyone else and now thanks to me and my stupidity Nicky is dead and Alex…Alex very soon may be. I failed. I don't stand a chance against someone like Kubra, a seasoned pirate who has spent years at sea, against me, a woman who has spent nearly the whole of her life learning how to curtsy, smile, and be beautiful. I'm done. And to be honest me being alive right now just feels like a cruel sick joke. A part of me wishes I was dead."

"C'mon Piper, I don't think you really mean that."

Piper cut into him with a look.

Cal made a face "Okay, maybe you do."

"I can't do it. I want to but I can't. I don't stand a chance. And I don't want to think or talk about it anymore Cal."

"If you say so Piper. It's your decision."

Piper's head tilted to one side a little. "Wait a minute. That's it? You're really not going to press me about it anymore? You're not going to give me some uplifting, rousing, speech?"

"Do you want one?" Cal asked.

"No…not really."

"Then I won't give you one. You said you were done and you seemed to have made up your mind about it. You made a decision and I respect it Pipes. While I don't agree with it or even believe that you truly will not go after the woman that you claim is the love of your life, I respect your right to make your own choices. It's part of the reason I told you why I never returned home. Out here I can choose to do whatever the fuck I want and no one is judging me for it. I have the right to be who I want, love who I want, live the way that I want and that's okay. The same applies to you."

"Sister, it's your choice and I respect it, whether I agree with it or not, it's still your choice. I'll still love you no matter what. You can live here with me and the Bantu, you can meet Neri and your niece. We're happy to have you. You can stay as long as you want."

Piper became silent and looked away from Cal as her thoughts moved around in her head.

"I will say this though. Why don't you just… think about it for a while. Allow yourself time to get better and then see if you still feel the same way as you do now. You should go visit Tiwa."

Piper's neck craned back "I'm sorry, who the hell is Tiwa?"

"Tiwa, is who the Bantu refer to as the Woman of the Willow. She's sort of this earthly deity that they respect and worship. And they seek her guidance. According to her legend she is said to be a goddess in human form, goddess of wisdom and insight. And she looks…. human…. enough. She lives to the far west of here in the hollow of a large weeping willow tree. They say she watches the world through the eyes of the birds. She knows things, knows people, sometimes more than they might know themselves. It's kind of scary actually."

"I take it you've met this Tiwa?" Piper asked in an irritable tone.

"Once. She can be a little frightening and intimidating but she's helpful. She's helped me. I felt a lot of guilt leaving you behind Pipes but she's given me a lot of understanding of the decisions I've made and has helped me cope. She gets inside of you and tells you what need to hear."

Piper put on a smile that wasn't really a smile. "Thanks but I don't think I will."

"Okay well um…I'm going to head back outside, let you get your rest. That tea you're drinking, they call it _lun qwe'_, good stuff, eases your pain but it'll make you drowsy. Once you heal up some more we can work on getting your strength back. You can meet everyone and I'll give you the tour of the whole village."

Cal held his hands up "But seriously though, and I won't press you about it anymore I promise, just consider what I said, that's all I'm saying. And on an unrelated note, a minor suggestion, why don't you try being just a little nicer to Taka. He's a good boy he means well, he did save your life after all."


	8. Chapter 8

The _lun qwe' _tea really did the trick. Piper didn't even remember falling asleep and now that she was awake so was the pain. She was still a little groggy and her vision was starting to clear up. And once again there was Taka seated by the doorway patiently waiting for her to wake.

"Hi there." There was a woman in the hut with her. She had dark brown hair that was wild and frizzy. It reminded Piper of Nicky's wild blonde hair only this woman's was a tad bit shorter resting just above the shoulders and she had brown eyes to match. She had on a simple tan colored bra, an exposed belly flab, and a tan colored skirt that wrapped around her hips and brushed against her shins. She wore a sling secured around her front and in it was a small infant.

"I'm so excited to finally meet you. Cal always mentioned having a sister but to finally meet you in person." She gave Piper a giddy little grin and moved forward to sit on Piper's bed. She reached over and kissed Piper on both cheeks.

Piper sat stunned for a while. "I'm sorry but who are you?"

"Oh, stupid me. I'm Neri, Cal's wife. You're his sister, which now makes you my sister by law. And this little one right here," Neri looked down into her sling" Is Goodall, your niece, can you say hello to your aunt Piper?" she cooed.

"You're, you're Neri?" Piper asked.

"That's right."

"Cal's wife?"

"Mmhmm. The one and only."

Piper took a moment to get a good look at her and made slight notice of her skin color. "You're very um…fair skinned. All the Bantu are brown-skinned. When Cal said he met his wife here I thought…"

"Oh he did. I'm not originally from here. I travel a lot, or at least I used to. Before I met Cal I was a traveler and I spent my life studying the different cultures of different people. I had been living with the Bantu for well over three years before Cal washed up on the shores. Now this place is home. This hut is actually our house. It's made from the pieces of my old boat and from there we slowly started to expand it since our family started to grow. We made that bed for you when we found out that you were here."

"I had been waiting for you to wake up. Cal thought it would be a good idea for us to meet, so that I might show you around the village a little bit."

"Where is Cal?"

"He's out hunting with Taka's older brother, Huten and some of the other villagers. I would've went along but someone needs to be around to look after this little one." She sighed with her shoulders "Oh how I do miss the hunt. Cal and I used to do it a lot together." Neri's eyes looked over at Taka, then back towards Piper and smirked. "I'm surprised Taka didn't go along either. He was quite persistent in hanging around here. He seems to be really taken with you."

"Not interested." Piper said harshly and with finality, leaving no room for debate.

"Oh," Neri said. And she and Taka exchanged a look. Neri's face almost appeared sad but she quickly fixed it with a light smile.

"Well anyway glad you're here. I took some time to properly clean up around this place. But let's get you out of bed shall we. It'll do you some good. Get your muscles set to right."

Piper shook her head,"I appreciate the hospitality, but I'd really rather not. My legs are terribly sore, it's hard to walk on them."

That wasn't exactly a lie everything still hurt and it did hurt to walk. But the truth was Piper just didn't feel like to doing anything, she didn't feel like meeting anyone, she wanted to be left alone.

"I know, that's why we have to start getting you out of bed and get those legs moving. And besides, Taka got you this." Neri moved away to grab a long staff that was leaning by the door. It wasn't a normal walking stick. It had intricately carved designs going up and down the shaft and at the top of it was a small club. Tied to it was a tiny bouquet of colorful flowers. The gesture was not lost on Piper.

"Taka made it himself."

_I never would've guessed. _Piper thought.

As a courtesy Piper swallowed the flippant remark that pranced around on her tongue and just took the staff. Neri then handed Piper a long old brown tunic for her to wear and helped her put it on. Piper held the staff upright and started to hoist herself up from the bed. Neri helped by placing herself up under Piper's other arm and then helped to lift her up from the bed by pushing her up by her back.

"Come on sister let's get you up, and a one, two, three."Neri grunted and got her up on her feet and Piper took hold of the staff with both hands.

"Okay, the worst is over with." Neri said cheerfully.

Piper groaned "I feel like I got the bones of an old woman."

"There's no doubt about that. But don't worry, with time you'll be all right again. Anyway let's go. Just let me know if I'm going too fast. Taka here will be there to pick up the slack should you fall. And we can't have that. It's a long way down from up here in the canopies."

* * *

Piper followed behind Neri at a snails pace and right behind her was Taka. It was frustrating that her legs were so weak and lacked the muscle strength to move the way that she would like. So she had no choice but to resort to using the staff. Neri was enthusiastic to share her knowledge about the Bantu people and about the village but Piper was really only half listening. She wanted to hurry up and get through this so she could get back to being alone in the hut. She looked around idly taking in the sight of the village. She watched as some of the villagers climbed the trees with such ease. They hopped from branch to branch effortlessly. Some hung upside down, swung from tree vines. It made Piper think about Suzanne and she thought about how much she would probably love it here. She could easily imagine her enthusiasm and the thought made her smile on the inside.

Neri pointed upward to one of the tallest trees. "And that right there is the Elder Hut, the biggest in the whole village, that's where everyone comes together to share food, stories, celebrate special ceremonies. It is where the Bantu chief Ookasa lives. He holds absolute power over the Bantu. But there is only one who's power is greater than his and she goes by the name Tiwa."

"Cal mentioned her before." Piper said in an even tone, filling the need to speak so she could give the impression that she was engaged in what Neri was showing her. "She's supposed to be some sort of earthly diety."

Neri nodded without turning around to look at her. "That's right. The Bantu practically worship her and they never make any hasty decisions without seeking her council first."

"Have you met her too?"

"Oh no, but Cal has and I'm sure he's told you about it. I personally just never felt the need to. Tiwa only opens her home and speaks to those who are in need of help. As the Bantu would say she is a guide for lost souls."

"So I've heard."

"But they say there are some occasions, very rare occasions, where Tiwa herself will summon those to her Willow Tree. And if she calls, one dare not refuse."

Piper made a sound in her throat that could only be interpreted as disinterest. She was waiting for a break in Neri's chatter to speak up and to persuade her to let her go back to the hut. It wasn't that hard. Piper started to feel tired again and even with the staff she was beginning to wobble her way along the rope bridges. She had to force herself to accept Taka's help to keep her upright. She managed to convince Neri that that was enough walking for her today and maybe tomorrow she would be willing to try a little more. But that's not what happened.

After that evening spent with Neri Piper had remained bed ridden for weeks. Over time Piper's strength was starting to come back but she was still weak from inactivity. And her reasons for lying in bed had become mostly because of depression and the lack of motivation. Her hair had slowly started to grow back, and the bald spots in her head were filling in with new growth. The cuts on her face had healed but two of them left very prominent scars, a crescent shaped scar around one of her eyes and the smaller one just above her lip. As she lied in bed Piper spent a lot of the time wondering why she was even still alive. Still so overwhelmed with so much guilt and heartache. She felt useless and was constantly mulling over all of her failures. Outwardly her wounds were healing but Piper was still torn up on the inside. She felt lost. She was getting better, but what would be her next move once she was all healed if it wasn't to go after Alex? Deep down she knew that's what she should do. But if Piper was being honest with herself the reason why she was choosing not to was actually quite simple, she was afraid. She missed Alex and being apart from her felt like a pain all it's own. She'd lie in bed, awake from soreness, but it was also as if her own body were aching for Alex and the closeness that it craved. But thinking about Alex had also become painful because it brought upon further guilt. Piper wished she couldn't feel anything.

She could tell her constant ritual of lying in bed day in and day out, hardly speaking to anyone, not putting forth any effort to contribute to the household was becoming annoying to her brother and his wife. They didn't say it but Piper knew. They were being sympathetic towards her and continued to have all of her meals brought to her. Until one day Cal had had enough.

"Uh Piper, don't want to be rude or anything, and I get that you're still recuperating and trying to wrap your mind around things. But don't you think it's time you got up and moved around a little bit. You've been in our hut since you first arrived and only once since then have you ventured out and that's because we made you. And Neri and I, we enjoy your company we do, but it's getting a little depressing seeing you in here and sleeping all the time. It also makes it kind of difficult to be intimate with Neri."

"I'm still not feeling well. I just want to lie here a little bit longer." Piper said in a groggy voice.

"Piper you have to get up and walk around. The healers say your body is well enough for you to move. You don't even need the staff anymore."

"I don't want to." She said with a little more bite in her tone.

Cal began gesturing with his hands "So this is it then, you're just going to lie there for the rest of your life?"

"Maybe. Leave me alone Cal."

"This is my hut."

"I said leave me alone!"

"Look, I know I said you can stay here Piper, But if you're going to stay here you're going to have to start pulling your weight. It's been weeks. You have to get your strength up. Help with the baby, get to know some of the villagers, speak to someone."

Piper abruptly sat up in her bed "Shutup Cal! Leave me alone. I don't want to talk to anyone! What is so hard about leaving me alone?!"

"Wow, you really have given up."

Piper turned over in the bed so she no longer had to look at Cal. "I see. You've not only given up on your girlfriend, but on life itself too huh? Nothing else fucking matters. You're just going to wait around to die since you were unsuccessful the first time is that it?"

Piper once again sat up in a rage. Her eyes were glistening. "I said shutup Cal! I don't want to talk about any of it, and I don't want to talk about Alex. Leave me alone okay!" Her voice cracked "Just leave me the fuck alone!"

Cal watched as Piper turned back over in the bed. He curled in his lips from frustration. "Fine Piper, fine." And he stormed out of the hut.

By the second day after Cal's outburst the rays of sunset broke through the door and there was Piper lying in bed anticipating her evening meal as always. But no one came. Not Cal, the healers, not even Taka who was oh so willing to tend to her every need. It made Piper irritable. Her stomach was growling with hunger. Food was usually served around this time in the elder hut and all the villagers would assemble together to enjoy the feast. Piper had been the exception since she had been hurt.

Right about now someone should've been walking through the door with something to eat. She sat up in bed and for the longest time just stared at the doorway as if it would make someone miraculously appear. Yesterday Piper hadn't received a meal and was too stubborn to ask Cal why because she could sense that Cal was still frustrated with her. And now this evening she looked like she was about to be out of a meal again. Piper realized what was going on. This was Cal's doing. He must've told everyone to stop feeding her. He was literally going to starve her out of the hut and force her to go and get her food. Piper just sat there stubbornly until she turned back to lie down into the bed in an effort to try and forget her hunger. She wasn't ready to get out. She wasn't ready to talk to anyone. But she was so hungry. Someone would have to come in eventually. Cal wouldn't let his own sister starve.

After about another half an hour it had become all to clear that no one was coming. Sunset had passed and Piper was starting to hear the crickets chirping. She growled to herself and turned out of the bed. She decided that she would go but only to grab her food and head back to the hut. She would not stay.

Piper's bare feet made contact with the gritty dirt covered floor. As she tried to stand up her muscles felt weak and she almost fell back into the bed. But with a little effort Piper moved one foot in front of the other. She felt no pain. And the pain she did feel was minimal, bearable. She was almost walking normally. With more practice she could be back to her old self.

Soon Piper was walking towards the door with ease and when she stepped out she was hit with the fresh scent of the night time air. There was no one outside, but as Piper looked a little higher up she saw the lights from the lit torches in the elder hut. That's where everyone was. Piper had to admit, it felt good being outside, feeling the gentle wind as it caressed her skin. It wasn't quite dark yet and the fireflies were beginning to flash their little yellow lights. The atmosphere that surrounded her made Piper feel a little calmer from all the chaos and stress that swarmed around inside her head. Piper took a moment to look at it all.

Piper started her walk up the rope bridge that led to the elder hut. Halfway up she just so happened to look over and she saw something sitting on one of the branches of the tall trees not to far away from her. It was an owl, a very strange looking owl. This owl had red and white feathers and glowing sapphire colored eyes that were big and round. The color of it's red feathers smeared over it's white ones looked a lot like blood. Although it looked unusual there was an odd sort of beauty to it. But what was really odd, what really caught Piper off guard, was the way that the bird was watching her, or at least it very well looked like it was. She sensed intelligence in this bird. Or maybe she really was just losing her mind. It tilted it's head to one side and made a trilling "who" sound. It was like it was talking to her. It did it again and paused seemingly waiting for a response, an answer to a question.

Piper turned away and continued her walk. She was convinced. She was losing her mind.

She walked the rest of the way up the rope bridge until she stood at the doorway of the elder hut. She took in a deep breath and pushed through the grass spun curtains. Once inside she froze, conversations had slowly ceased. The entire village was present seated in an oval shape around a bountiful feast served in large clay serving bowls and in front of the villagers were their empty small bowls. No one had started eating yet.

Cal was sitting next to Neri and the baby. And she saw Taka who was seated next to the Bantu chief, Ookasa a man looking to be in his late fifties dressed in a leopard animal hide that draped around his shoulders like a cape. He had a bone necklace made up of claws and teeth and a headdress made up of shells and tall brown feathers. Taka was beaming as usual when he saw her and she swore she could see him puffing out his chest a little more.

An awkward silence had formed in the room until finally Piper spoke up. "I was hungry."

And just like that the entire hut erupted into joyful claps, screeches, trills, and cheers, hooting and hollering. Piper was surprised by this. Even her brother and Neri were clapping along with them.

"I was wondering when you would finally show up. We've been waiting. Now we can all eat. We weren't going to start until you did." said Cal.

"You all risked starvation on the hopes that I would decide to come here?" Piper asked.

"I was pretty confident that you would. The Bantu people are a family and family does not eat until all are present. You may not be recognized as a Bantu but you are my blood sister and therefore my family. I am family to the Bantu. I spoke to the chief and insisted that we wait for you."

"This your way getting me out of bed?"

"Had to get you out of bed somehow. And it worked. No more meals in bed. There are no servants here. And if it's truly you're decision to stay, you're going to learn to be a Bantu."

Piper scoffed and suddenly she something she hadn't done it what seemed to be a very long time. She crossed her arms over her chest and gave him the tiniest hint of a smile. Piper hated to admit it but she was moved by the warm welcome of the Bantu and her brother's determination to see her out and about. Piper had been so angry and depressed for so long it felt strange to feel any sort of happiness. She scrunched her lips together to suppress it and did a light shoulder shrug.

"I suppose I could learn a few things."

Once again the villagers clapped and hooted and Cal gestured for Piper to come and sit down beside him. Piper did so without complaint. The moment Piper sat down everyone began to engorge themselves with food. Piper began to reach in towards the bread bowl with her left hand and immediately Cal yelled for her to stop. She jumped back.

"What? What did I do?!"

"Lesson number one never eat your food with your left hand. Or if you're going to do it don't ever let the Bantu see you do it."

Piper raised an eyebrow at him "What's the perspective of eating with your left hand?"

"Superstition. The Bantu believe it to be bad luck. They would think you to be some sort of witch."

Piper made a face at him "That's mad. What if I want to use my left hand?"

"Piper." Cal said with a rising inflection.

"All right fine. No eating of the food with the left hand. Got it." And Piper took her first bite into the loaf.


	9. Chapter 9

It had been an easy journey so far. Tonight, the men were celebrating and the entire crew was on deck singing shanties, having drunken dancing contests, wrestling matches, just being their loud and boisterous selves. Alex, stood by in a corner, arms folded across her chest next to a couple of barrels watching them, the night time wind blowing her thick mane of hair across her face. For the past several weeks Alex played the long game. She was good and compliant just as Kubra wanted. She followed orders without complaint, she answered questions and gave information when it was asked of her. But her face always maintained an unreadable mask that hid her true intentions and feelings. It made her seem unapproachable and it made a lot of the men nervous because no one could figure out what Alex was thinking. She was deadly calm, her heart cold. The fact that a lot of these men also knew all too well of her reputation made them all the more anxious around her. So a lot of them kept their distance. She was Kubra's former quartermaster after all and that position didn't go to just anyone. A good portion of these men feared her. Which was fine by Alex because they damn well should. Alex was going to kill as many of them as she could until they arrived in Tylassa. After a while though a lot of the men became more and more comfortable with Alex being there, which meant their guards were down and they had become used to Alex's solemn and grim attitude. But they all still kept their distance.

Alex's state of mind had gotten better, and the fleeting illusions in her head weren't as frequent. It had become a lot easier to tell what was real and what wasn't. The false visions reminded Alex of what it was like to look into rippling water. Kubra had moved her out of her cell in the lower decks and had given her her old cabin back. He had also saw to it that she would get a proper sling for her arm. Though she now had a proper bed to sleep in and there were no longer any bars, Alex was still a prisoner. A change of scenery didn't change anything. During the time that her arm had been broken Alex had used a lot of that time to plot and scheme. She spent the majority of her time in her cabin and every now and then would venture out to get a taste of the fresh air and…to study. Physically she had been incapable of extracting revenge so she had no choice but to wait for her arm to heal. As she waited she took it upon herself to study the Jackal crew. She paid extra special attention to Aydin, Haluk, and Desmond. She looked for patterns, habits, anything that she could use. She made mental notes of when they ate, when they slept, what they did in their leisure, all of it. She had them completely memorized.

When she wasn't watching the three of them Alex got to know some of the other crew by name. She especially learned the names of the men that assaulted Piper. The ones that she could list off the top of her head were Bramwell, Kelton, Erwan, and Hammond. They were easy to remember because they were the ones who held Piper down and tried to rape her. The only one who seemed to be on to Alex's calm behavior was Stella and possibly even Kubra but Alex could hardly ever tell what Kubra was thinking. Stella however was becoming easier and easier figure out. Her cracks were showing. She could tell that she was anxious. Obviously Alex's threat had sunk in. And it was obvious, now that Alex was back, Stella felt like her position was being threatened as well. She was always at Kubra's side ready to carry out an order. Alex thought it rather pathetic. Tonight things seemed lax though. Stella had loosened up and there she was laughing and drinking and carrying on with the rest of them. Kubra was in his cabin and Alex just stood amongst the crowd quietly waiting to make her move.

Alex was silent fury. Sadness and tears came only at night when she was alone in her bed, the time she reserved to think of Piper. Even though Piper was dead, thinking about her was the only comfort Alex had in this place. She held on to the memory of her smile, her laugh, her eagerness to share some strange bit of knowledge that no one asked for. She and Piper had only known each other for a little less than a couple of years but for Alex it had felt like a life time and Piper had come to feel like a missing part of herself that she never knew had been lost. There was never a time when Alex was never not amused by Piper Chapman.

One night as Alex had lied awake in her bed, clutching her wounded arm and staring up at the wooden planks of her small bunk she started to think about the night she and Piper had met. Watching her walk into that tavern, hood over her head, looking so awkward and so unfamiliar with her surroundings. Blissfully unaware of the quick and curious glances she was catching from the men in the bar. A lot of them were more so curious because of the hooded stranger walking in their midst. Hooded strangers in a place like that usually meant trouble and obviously someone who didn't want to be noticed for whatever the reason but it only made you notice them even more. Alex watched them as they watched Piper but she had been watching Piper most of all. Thankfully no one had been able to figure out who Piper was. Alex had been unsure about her identity at first so she had studied her and after a while her entire presence told her everything that she needed to know, the tiny glimpse of her facial profile underneath her hood and the way she walked. She knew right then she had to be someone of nobility.

And then, Piper sat down at the bar and they had made eye contact. It was brief but Alex saw Piper see her and she couldn't resist a wink. So adorably awkward she was. It was only when she had been able to get an even closer look at her that Alex had been able to put all the pieces together and figure out that the princess herself had stumbled into this tavern of all places. Just her luck.

Piper hadn't turned out to be at all what she had expected her to be. Alex knew noblewomen, she knew what they were like. How they sneered and turned up their noses at the likes of people like Alex, pampered and privileged. Piper was pampered and she was privileged, naive. But she had something else too that was so rare in women of her type, a wildness in her that Alex found to be very attractive. Yet it was so suppressed. She was beautiful, smart, passionate, and as Nicky would say, feisty. Alex loved it. The night they met, Alex had only gotten a taste of who Piper Chapman was. She had wanted to know more, she needed to. The lines of business and pleasure had begun to blur. One night would not have been enough to unpack everything that was Piper. Piper was different. She had become special in Alex's eyes. Thinking back on it Alex wasn't quite sure of the precise moment that she fell in love with Piper Chapman. Those feelings seemed to have snuck up on her. She never would've thought that by sitting in that tavern that she would come to not only meet the princess herself but find her soulmate as well.

And then Alex came out of her thoughts, painfully reminded of where she was and what she lost. No ship, no friends, no crew, no Piper. But tonight Alex had eyes on Aydin. He would be the first. She watched them all as they carried on getting more careless and loose the more they drank. Something Alex would work in her favor. Drunk men were sloppy and slow.

Alex's eyes stayed focused on Aydin. He was laughing, spilling his bottle of rum as he wrapped his arm around his fellow shipmates making some lewd jest about a woman's cunt. Alex didn't know, nor did she care. She watched him take another swig, throw the bottle over board with a laugh and the others joined in. And then she watched him walk off, a dizzying, careless stride, that had a bit of a wobble and then he disappeared behind the door that would lead to the bunks in the lower decks. Alex waited a few moments before following to avoid suspicion.

* * *

Aydin stumbled into the washroom feeling lightheaded and his feet felt as if they were filled with lead. He pulled up a wash basin, threw in a rag, and began splashing the cool water on his face. Droplets of water trickled off of his beard. He scratched at it a little and then drew a small knife from his belt. It was sharp and he began to scratch it along the side of his face, ridding himself of the excess hair.

He shook the hair off the blade into the water bucket. Suddenly there was a low creaking sound coming from behind him and instinctively Aydin gripped the small knife in his hand. Even drunk, Aydin was shocked to find Alex there.

"Hello Aydin." Alex said in a dead tone.

And before he could utter a single word Alex lunged at him and snapped a thick rope around his neck as quick as a whip. Alex didn't say anything, there was nothing to say. Aydin stumbled backwards and lost his footing as he struggled to catch his breath. The knife in his hand clattered to the floor. Alex held on as tight as she could and kept her body firmly pressed against his back. He made gargled choking noises and Alex pulled tighter and tighter at the rope. He moved around drunk and staggering. He banged his fists into Alex's hands until her grip on the rope hurt. He moved his body in an effort to try and flip her over. Alex's hair whipped around wildly as he bucked and thrashed around the tight space, backing them into the wall again and again trying to get Alex off of him. He began clawing at the rope around his neck. He continued to gag harshly and couldn't get out the words to speak. His face started to transition into a deep shade of red as if he might pop and then began to turn purple. Alex thought of Piper's suffering, her cries of pain, how they beat her, the blood, the bruises, the tears on her face. Aydin deserved this, they all did. She held onto that horrific memory in her mind and it was all Alex needed to give herself the strength that she needed to hold on to him. Before long Aydin's body began to weaken, his movements became sluggish, and he finally collapsed to his knees. His arms swung loosely at his sides. Only then did Alex slowly release her grip leaving Aydin to fall face flat on the floor with a hard thud.

The effort to bring Aydin down left her out of breath and feeling exhausted. The tension in Alex's muscles relaxed. Alex threw her head back to toss the hair away from her face and wiped the sweat from her brow. Her hands stung, they were beginning to blister and were red and pulsating. Her body ached from the struggle. Now that Aydin was dead the question was what to do with the body. His body was much too heavy for her to move by herself but she needed to find a way get rid of it, and not just get rid of it, but send Kubra and everyone else a well deserved message. And the answer became all too obvious to her. Moving Aydin in a single trip _was_ much too difficult for her to do on her own, but five trips with a much lighter load would prove to be so much easier. The worst of it would be having to clean up the blood. Alex didn't think twice about it.

* * *

Dawn crept up from beyond the horizon and the Jackal crew was called to assemble on the main deck. Stella worked to get the crew in order and Alex, still following orders like a good little shipmate, calmly fell in line with all of them. They were all wiping the sleep from their eyes, shaking off grogginess and drunkenness of last night just before Kubra finally emerged from his cabin.

A morning roll call was something Kubra liked to do at random, his way of keeping tabs of those that resided on his ship. He strolled the line as he usually did and spoke up to Stella tailing behind him.

"Ms. Carlin,"

"Aye, sir?"

"I'll need a report on our food stores, weaponry, you know the routine. Put together a team and see it done."

"Already done sir, I awoke earlier this morning and took the extra time to do the count myself."

Alex rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath "Fucking kiss ass."

Kubra turned around to look at her "Did you?"

The look on his face was obviously not the one of gratitude that Stella had hoped for.

"So do it again and I'll expect a report within the next few hours. Have Alex assist you."

Stella's head jerked. "I don't need her help. I can do the count without her."

"I didn't ask you what you needed. Alex will assist you. That's an order."

"You think I'm incapable of doing this without her?" Stella asked speaking out of turn.

Kubra glared at her "Are you still talking?"

Stella's lips tightened together and her eyes fixated on Alex.

"I didn't think so. All right men, break off, to your stations, open the sails. Aydin, Haluk, Desmond you three with me."

And right then Kubra paused "Wait." He looked back at all of the men and his eyes squinted. "Where is Aydin?"

For a moment everyone stopped to look around, a lot of them realizing that Aydin most certainly wasn't among them.

"Would any of you shits like to speak up?!"

"Sir, we haven't seen him since last night sir." One of the men said.

"Not one of you have seen him since then?"

The whole lot of them nodded. "How the fuck is that even possible?"

Kubra growled. "Change of plans, search the ship."

And they did. The men broke off and searched every inch of the ship, the bunks, the storage closets, every inch. And still there was no sign of Aydin. They all searched. All except for Alex who calmly stood by completely unbothered by his absence.

"He's not here sir, we can't find him, he's not in his bunk."

Kubra looked over to the rowboats. All of them were still in place. "Impossible, where the bloody fuck could he have gone, it's a ship there aren't exactly a lot of places he could've disappeared to. Find him!"

Stella looked at Alex and couldn't help but notice her lack of participation in their search efforts "Did you not hear your captain? Search the ship!"

Alex calmly moved her hair from her face "Maybe some other time." she said. And Alex scowled at her.

"That was an order!" Stella yelled.

"And you make the mistake of thinking that you give me orders."

"I am the ship's quartermaster and you will do as your told!"

"God you are pathetic." Alex said breathing out a sigh.

"What did you say?" Stella asked, her temper flaring.

"I think I made myself perfectly clear."

Stella stepped closer to Alex, her face inches away from hers "We're not on your ship anymore Vause. Here, you take orders from the captain or me, whether you like it or not. And if I wanted to I could have you lashed for disobeying a command. Perhaps I might."

"You can't hurt me Stella, all of you have already done that. So go on and make your little threats. I don't care."

Stella's face contorted in anger and she was just about to say something else until a shipmate's voice had spoken up.

He was one of the lazier of followers who just so happened to have taken a break from searching to partake in a drink from one of the beer kegs. He had opened it up, dipped his cup inside to take a drink. Only, when he did he had realized that the beer tasted rather foul and he immediately spat it back out. He looked inside and shouted in horror at what he saw.

"Uh captain, captain!" His voice echoed over the sea. "I think, I think I found Aydin!"and the man gagged.

They all came rushing in and Kubra stepped forward to look inside the barrel. There, bobbing up and down in the brown liquid, was a hand attached to a severed arm. He reached in and hoisted it up by the wrist. The limb was saturated in blood and beer and it dripped heavily from it. But there was more. Kubra looked back into the barrel and saw some of the remaining parts of what used to be Aydin. His mouth twitched in anger. The others opened up some of the other beer kegs. One had a foot in it, there was another arm, and then finally someone managed to recover the head. It's eyes were rolled back and the skin was grey and soggy like it was melting off the bones.

All of the men stood around in shock. Alex had completely contaminated a good portion of their beer and rum supply with Aydin's dead human flesh.

Kubra's face turned blood red, he was fuming, sickened by what he saw. His head whipped around at Alex. He didn't say anything and he didn't need to ask. He knew she did this. All eyes were on all Alex and a look of fear emerged on several of their faces. Stella's face contorted in disgust and then she looked at Alex as if she were completely insane. Alex Vause had successfully sent a message, and the message was well received. If they didn't know before they surely knew now: Alex Vause was not trapped on this ship with them, they were trapped on this ship with her and Aydin was only the first to feel her wrath.


	10. Chapter 10

Kubra whipped around with a hard backhanded slap across Alex's face, hitting her so hard she fell on the flats of her hands down onto the floor tasted blood on her lips. This had been an on going cycle since the day Alex killed Aydin and since then more dead bodies have been appearing around the ship in odd places, bodies that belonged to Bramwell, Kelton, and Erwan, Piper's attempted rapers. Bramwell who had earned himself a sliced throat, Kelton, gutted and found with his intestines wrapped around his neck, and as of recently Erwan, hung with a rope and then hoisted up the mast for everyone to see the next morning. He had been the hardest only because hoisting him up the tall wooden spar was no easy feat, but somehow Alex managed.

When Alex killed Aydin Kubra immediately struck her in front of the entire crew and he hadn't stopped there. He signaled for Desmond to come over and before she could reach up to comfort her face the giant already had hoisted her up by the collar of her shirt ready to strike her again and then gave her a vicious kick to her stomach. Alex didn't react apart from the obvious painful blows given to her face. But the beatings didn't stop the murders that took place after that. Alex had spaced them pretty far apart so that she could rest and she always worked out how she would go about killing them before she made a move, to leave little room for error. She wanted to keep everyone paranoid and uncomfortable, never knowing when she would strike or who would be next. And it worked. It left the men sloppy in their duties no matter what Stella or even Kubra said. This enraged the captain because it was becoming all too evident that his own men feared Alex far more than they feared him. And that was a problem. In order to reestablish control, Kubra deliberately made a show of having her slapped around and beaten in front of everyone. At first Desmond had been the one to administer the punishment and he seemed to enjoy it a lot, same as Stella. But Stella only enjoyed it because it felt good to see Kubra's most favored shipmate brought lower and lower. Desmond just enjoyed it. Alex could sense Desmond liked having that power, hurting those smaller than him, holding life and death in his freakishly large hands. Each blow Alex took to her stomach and face she mentally kept repeating the word "soon" over and over again in her head. He had the upper hand on her now but soon she would bring down this giant just like the rest of them.

Alex would be lying to herself if she had said that she felt nothing when she killed those men. She felt profound satisfaction from it. It felt good to kill them, it felt good to make them hurt, it felt good to run that blade across Bramwell's neck. Alex had made sure to drag the knife slowly so that he could feel the sharp edges opening up his skin, his life seeping out from the wound, and the spark of life leaving his eyes. After every kill Alex found herself being temporarily relieved of her own pain, a high of sorts, happy to take a little bit of power back. But much like the opium Alex used to take, the high never lasted. It was a quick fix, a temporary relief until the next victim. They were all but flies to her, caught within the spider's web.

It wasn't long before Kubra's anger would get the better of him and he decided to inflict the pain upon Alex himself. But Alex didn't care, she didn't react to the beatings the way that Kubra wanted her to and that infuriated Kubra even more. There was a moment when she dared to not even try to resist a smirk and Kubra quickly removed it from her face. Kubra hit her again and she could feel her eye beginning to swell. She lifted herself back up on her palms, her hair wild and covering most of her beaten face and the smirk reappeared.

Blood ran down her mouth and her teeth were painted red. She coughed and in between harsh breaths she spoke "You really ought to take it easy on the beatings, you need me alive, any sort of trauma or damage done to my brain might cause me the misfortune of forgetting everything that you need to know and we'll never get to Tylassa. I don't care what you do to me. It's not going to stop. So long as I'm here, no man is safe. This is going to be an uncomfortable trip for everyone."

Kubra's eyes widened at her. The muscles in his face tightened and he looked like he wanted to kill her right then. And then Alex did something that sent a chill through everyone that was watching. She smiled with bloodied teeth, further taunting him. And right then Stella was convinced, Alex had gone completely mad.

Kubra, realizing Alex's point viciously grabbed her so hard by a chunk of her long hair that she thought he would pull it out by the roots. He raised her up and with Stella and Desmond following behind him he practically dragged her back down to the lower decks, both arms twisted harshly behind her back.

As they stormed down the steps, Alex nearly missed a step fumbling behind them and when they reached the bottom Kubra grabbed Alex by her upper arm and threw her back up against the cage door.

"It's obvious to me you've forgotten where you are. Do you enjoy making me hurt you?! Have you taken leave of your senses?! I should tear the flesh off your back for what you've done to my men."

"Maybe you should, it would be a different change of pace from all the times you hit me in my face." Alex said flatly. Her eyes looked over to where Stella was standing. She was just within her reach and if she wanted to she could get to the knife at her belt if she was quick enough. Alex could visualize it so clearly. She could grab it and swipe it across her throat in a single motion and Stella would be dead. Alex could most definitely get to it but then there was Desmond it was possible that he might grab her before she could get to it. No, now was not the time. She had to be patient. Stella would die sure enough but at the right moment. Alex needed her alive for now if she was to trade her life for Piper's. Besides Alex wanted her to suffer first. She didn't deserve a quick death. But god did Alex's fingers itch with the urge to grab that blade. The constant sight of Stella's face was insufferable.

Kubra's voice bellowed bringing Alex's focus away from Stella's knife. "Alex! Are you listening to anything that I am telling you?!"

Alex blinked slowly at him. "No, sorry I was distracted." She knew that would earn her another slap but before Kubra could raise his hand again Alex quickly whipped her head forward and head butted Stella straight in the face. She hit her so hard Stella stumbled back and was left holding her face in her hands and Alex could see that her nose was bleeding between her fingers. Alex felt the sting in her forehead too but it was worth it.

"That was for Lolly." she growled out.

Out of anger and without thinking Stella lunged towards Alex ready to hit her back but Kubra got in between them shoving Alex into the cage and violently pushing Stella towards the direction of the steps.

"Enough! Fuck off!" He roared at Stella. Stella looked shocked to see Kubra addressing his anger towards her when she was the one with the bloody nose.

She stuttered angrily "Captain I—"

"I said fuck off! Get back on deck now!"

Stella stood there fuming for a moment as she covered her nose just before storming off and Kubra turned his attention back to Alex. "I'm going to find a way to deal with you but in the mean time I'm going to leave you in here for a few days. Pray I decide to keep you fed."

Kubra slammed the door with a rusty clang and looked to Desmond "She is now your charge, keep an eye on her in between duties. Make sure she's not concocting any more of her devious little plans."

"Aye, sir." Desmond said in a deep gruff voice "With pleasure."

"You handle her as you see fit. If she even looks like she's up to something…break something of hers and do it slowly."

Kubra gave one final look towards Alex and marched back up the steps. Desmond decided to pull up a stool and sit beside Alex's cell for a while to watch her. He folded his thick muscular arms over his broad chest. The man really was a mountain.

"You're causing a lot of trouble for the captain and our men."

Alex's eyes looked at him dead calm and unwavering.

"Those men you killed were good men, strong men, capable men, loyal."

Alex immediately cut him off. "Men who hurt and assaulted an innocent woman, a woman who was unable to defend herself. A woman who just so happened to be very close to me." She retorted back.

"The princess got exactly what she deserved, she brought it upon herself. You brought that on her, not us."

"The fact that you think so is all the more reason why you're going to die."

Her voice dripped with sarcasm "You'll be joining those good, strong, capable, loyal men, soon enough. I Just haven't figured out how yet."

Desmond scoffed "Are you threatening me now?"

"I didn't make that clear enough for you? How's this then, let's just say I have a list and you're on it."

"You don't scare me Vause, you may have managed to intimidate the rest of this crew but there's no way I could ever be taken out by a feeble woman such as yourself. I don't care how many men you've killed. You're still just a woman, and if I wanted to I could snap every single bone in your body like a twig with my bear hands."

Alex still didn't turn away from his look and answered plainly. "We shall see."

* * *

Kubra kicked open the door to the captain's quarters and in a rage pushed over one of the chairs seated in front of his desk. Right behind him was Stella still covering her nose with a now bloodied handkerchief. Thankful she was that her nose wasn't broken but the pain went unmatched to her pride.

She took it upon herself to sit down in the other chair while Kubra started to pace the room.

"It's not going to stop, at this rate there won't be any men left to manage the ship they 'll all be dead before we get to the island."

"Did I ask for any of your creative insight?"

Stella removed the handkerchief from her nose now raw and red, stained from smeared blood. Her lips tightened together. " I thought it was my duty as your quartermaster to give you such insight."

"Not very insightful if it's something I'm already aware of."

"Perhaps it was a mistake to have killed Piper." She mused.

"You say that as if you're afraid of her."

"I'm not afraid. I just think things would be going a lot smoother if we hadn't done so. The only reason the men are being picked off one by one is because you killed her."

"It needed to be done. Alex can never be the person I need her to be so long as Ms. Chapman is involved. She needed to be removed. Alex will be better for it."

"The men nearly beat Piper to death and tried to rape her. Was that necessary too?"

"You didn't like that?" It wasn't exactly a question but more of a dare.

She shook her head as she looked into his eyes and saw his challenging glare " Nevermind, it doesn't matter, what's done is done right?"

"That's right. And don't ever forget that."

"Apologies," Stella said calmly and then her voice switched over into bitterness "I must say this though, I find it strange that since we brought Alex back aboard this ship you've been treating me as if I were second best."

Kubra grumbled as if he were irritated for having to even explain "Because you are. Vause is back which makes you second rate."

Her eyes blinked at what she heard "What?"

"You heard me, I said because you are. Alex Vause was the best quartermaster I ever had, she made me the most money, kept the men in order, she's smart and only she was able to decipher the codings of that book."

Stella stood up in a fury "I'm just as good as Alex if not better. Did you forget that I'm the reason she's here in the first place. She obviously can't be too smart if I was able to bring her to you. And not just her, her entire fucking ship and crew. I even bagged you the princess!"

Kubra whipped around and slapped her across the face. "Don't raise your voice to me!" In another fit of rage he smashed more of the gold antiques that decorated the shelves of the room on to the floor. "I already have one disrespectful bitch on board I will not be plagued by another!"

Stella covered her face and became silent for while. Kubra had never struck her before. It wasn't the pain that surprised her but the shock that it even happened. She spoke again, her tone much softer this time.

"All I'm saying is, I pulled the strings, laid the traps, and hurt a lot of people who didn't deserve to be hurt including Piper, but I did it, I saw it through because I'm loyal to you."

"And you serve me well Stella, Alex is just better suited to the post."

"What…what are you saying?"

"Alex's head isn't here yet, her thoughts will change in time. She's still attached. She hungers for vengeance and rightfully so. It's just like when her mother died, it awakened something inside of her but eventually that blood thirst was sated. In the mean time until it is I have to find a way regain control over her. Once she comes to her senses everything will be as it was. And when she does I will be returning her to your post."

Stella's eyes went wide "You're serious? Kubra, Kubra don't Alex doesn't even give a shit about this ship or the crew. She hates you and wishes us all dead! I am your quartermaster. I deserve this!" Stella caught herself before she spoke out of turn again.

"Then prove it."

"Have I not been proving it?!"

"Prove that you outrank Alex Vause. Show me that you deserve it and your post, your future aboard the Jackal will be secured."


	11. Chapter 11

All alone in the dark, tired and weak, Alex silently mumbled the passages from the book that she retained from memory. “Oh great Tylassa I ask of thee, to bring back one who was lost to me, I pay this debt, my debt be true, an earthbound soul I give to you.” Over and over again she silently recited the incantation she had studied so many times. The words that needed to be spoken in order to summon the goddess herself and awaken the Pool of Souls. She did this for hours.

“Oh great Tylassa bring back the one named Piper Chapman….bring back one…lost…Piper.” She had to keep her mind active, fight the deliriousness, and distract herself from hunger.

“Beware Tylassa’s gills for they protect her…the temple that kisses the clouds.”

Another week had gone by with nightly visits from Desmond. Kubra had kept his word about the food, leaving her starving and her stomach aching painfully with hunger, and when he did send her food it was so very little, dried bread crust that she devoured hungrily, no meat, nothing filling. When Desmond came to watch he would make a show of eating a leg of mutton and his own crust of bread. Over time Alex noticed that during his visits his meals look to be getting thinner and thinner, by the looks of it there was no more meat and he too only had bread to eat. She took mental note that food supply had to be running low. Wouldn’t be long before the whole crew began to starve. At this rate they would all die from starvation before they ever got to the island. Alex hadn’t really planned ahead when she infested the food supply with dead bodies.Now, not only were the men going hungry but now so was she.

* * *

“We have to make a slight…detour in our plans” Kubra said as he held a meeting in the captain’s quarters with his men. Stella watched the frustration on his face, the wrinkles in his forehead more defined than usual. She could see that he was very short tempered at the moment and decided it would be wise to just listen. She could tell Alex’s behavior was getting to him, what with his temper flaring up more than usual. And thanks to Alex Kubra was angered at the fact that they needed to divert from their course.

“Supplies have gone terribly low and the fleet isn’t doing so well either. Problem is this cuts into time from our journey. So unfortunately we have to double back and restock. Thankfully though we can restock by means of hitting this…” Kubra tapped at the map with his finger “…Common trade route not too far off from here, an ocean channel called the Ofray about two days away. At least this way we won’t be diverging too far out from our planned course.”

“So what are you saying captain? We be goin’ fishin’?” Haluk asked.

Kubra grinned “Precisely, being that it is a common trade route, we’re bound to run into some ships filled to the rim with precious cargo, we simply need to net ourselves a good one.”

“Only one sir?” Desmond asked.

“Well only one if the score is big, I don’t want to dwell on this too long. Frigates should do and of course any of the small merchant ships we possibly run into along the way. But I don’t need to tell you all, the bigger the ship, the bigger the haul. We immobilize the ships, gut them for all their spoils, and kill anyone who’s left standing. I have no interest in hostages. Is that understood.”

“Aye sir.” They all said collectively.

“Very good, dismissed. Stella change course.”

“Aye sir.”

* * *

The Jackal arrived near the Ofray much faster than planned, by nearly a day ahead of what Kubra had thought all thanks to Stella. She had been able to spot some of the currents that would give them the extra boost in speed that they all needed to get there. She had explained to him as such shortly after turning the ship around. His response was short and dismissive “Do it.” he had said without even bothering to look up from the map he was studying. And Stella turned around without so much as another word.

The Ofray channel split down the middle between two large islands. As they came closer and closer towards their destination The Jackal started to creep slowly across the water with Kubra’s instructions to pull up behind one of the large land masses where they would wait. It wouldn’t be too long until something showed up, if it was such a common a route as Kubra had said. And indeed it was. But the ships they were getting weren’t exactly like the “bigger fish” they had hoped for, small merchant ships and such with very little cargo on board but still ripe for picking. So they did.

After a few more hours Kubra finally saw his big fish as did the man stationed atop the crows nest. He hollered down to the men below “Galleon ship dead ahead sir!”

Kubra hollered back “How long?!” 

“They’ll be coming around the rocks in about ten minutes, coming round our starboard side.”

Galleon ships were huge, slow in their movement, and a perfect vessel for shipping cargo but very well armed. Kubra gave orders for the men to ready the guns and slowly ease the ship out of hiding. Just as soon as the enemy ship started to come around one of the rock formations the Jackal pounced and speared itself into the ship’s broadside with a roaring crash of wood snapping and breaking against each other. It hit so hard that the Galleon ship listed over to it’s other side. With no time to correct itself Kubra yelled orders to open fire and an enormous blaze of cannons ruthlessly tore into the meat of the ship. Men took to the swivel guns and immediately started blasting at large groups of the Galleon crew, lowering their numbers, and making it a lot easier for them to board. 

The enemy ship started to fire back once it got it’s bearings and returned it’s own vicious assault that made the Jackal tremble from the impact. The cannonballs that came through the air broke through men’s bodies in an eruption of blood, meat, and bone. Wood exploded and splintered into random faces of those caught in the crossfire.

While some of the men stayed behind to keep working at the swivel guns the other men hollered their loud battle cries as they latched on to their ropes and swung aboard. They were hard up for battle and ready for a fight, having been at sea for weeks with nothing to do left the men bored and irritable, and with no thanks to Alex, fearing for their lives. This bit of fun was exactly what the men needed. They all needed to relieve the stress. Stella knew she needed to.

Ever since Alex had been brought back things had not been going the way Stella had hoped they would, in fact things have gotten a lot worse. She just couldn’t understand Kubra’s obsession with Alex and she was starting to wish that she had just went on and killed her aboard the Widow when she had the chance, then Alex would have her wish and she’d be with her dead girlfriend right now. Kubra would have never had known the truth. And now here she was, all of her hard work and position being threatened and Alex didn’t even want it, which made it all the more insulting. They didn’t need Alex, Stella was just as capable of finding Tylassa as she was, they didn’t need her. If anyone deserved the title of quartermaster it was Stella. And if Kubra needed further proof of this so be it.

With that in mind, with adrenaline and fury rushing through her veins, Stella led the charge on board the ship with vicious resolve shouting orders over the loud hollering voices of the men and the gunfire that exploded through the air. She swung aboard the ship and landed with a frontward roll then quickly whipped out her dagger and threw it into the head of the first man she saw, a precise hit, all the way to the hilt. 

She took out her sword and engaged another man, twirled around to dodge his attack, parrying his sword and then taking out her other dagger to stab him in the eye. It felt good to let out some of her anger, she was almost enjoying just as much as the other men were. 

Kubra was nearby switching weapons from guns to twin swords alternating between them. Without even turning around he caught the attack of one sword charging at his back and with his other sword he gutted the man in front of him spilling out his intestines. With ease he unsheathed his sword from the man’s stomach and came back around to slice both blades to the back of the neck to the soldier that attacked him from behind, leaving him headless. Kubra took a moment to catch his breath. His bald head was shiny with sweat and blood, the glow from the fiery embers reflected off of it. The entire ship’s deck was scorching hot and muggy with the heat of the fires that were eating away at the wood.

“Kill them all! Leave no one, grant no quarter! Find the food stores and supplies now!” Kubra roared.

The men cheered loudly in response as they continued their fight. It gave them the extra boost of bloody fury and satisfaction that they needed. Stella scavenged around the ship for any more of the opposing forces. She scaled up and down the ships steps, leaped on top of the ledges, flipped over barrels and scaled tall beams, throwing her knives and reclaiming them, slicing off limbs and severing heads. She personally climbed up one the tall spars to go after one of the marksmen that shot down at the men from up high. Stella caught the man from behind and slit his throat before reclaiming his rifle and used to slide down the rope and back on to the deck. 

With the bayonet rifle now as her new weapon she rotated its use from spear to gun. She speared a man right under his chin and fired a shot right through his skull and watched as blood and brain matter exploded through the air.

Before long the remaining soldiers on the ship were calling for mercy and the ship’s last remaining leading officer begged for a ceasefire. They all dropped their weapons to emphasize this plea, to say that they no longer wished to fight. Kubra granted them the mercy Stella thought that he would, the mercy of swift death. The ship was now fully theirs to claim.

Kubra gave the order to scourge the ship of all its useful belongings and a gangplank was lowered to connect the two ships. Like the others Stella rummaged through the different cabins from top to bottom until she stumbled upon a room that had been securely locked. Naturally Stella thought that there indeed had to be precious cargo inside for the crew to have locked it.Without a second thought she took out her knife and jammed it in the lock until she heard a loud click and the door came open.

She stepped inside to find that it very well wasn’t cargo but it was in fact very precious. It was a young woman, about in her twenties. She was startled, hyperventilating in fear as she and Stella made eye contact. The woman looked to be torn as to whether or not it was appropriate for her to scream because Stella seemed hesitant in what to do. Stella’s thoughts came together and realized that the ship must’ve been acting as an escort and here was the ship’s most valuable asset.

“Please..” the woman said in a trembling voice “Please I beg you. Mercy.”

Stella stared at her completely stone faced and took her gun from her belt. She aimed it right at her. Captain’s orders were clear, no man left alive, no hostages. The woman flinched and continued plead for her life, trying to play on Stella’s gender and perhaps gain sympathy from her. It wouldn’t work. Stella had killed just as many women as she did men and this woman was no exception…or perhaps she could be.

Gun still raised and aimed right at the girl’s face she noticed the woman’s pretty features, her long hair and her eyes and she looked to be just about the right age too. This girl very well might be useful to them somehow.

Just then coming up right behind her was Haluk, jolly and exhausted from battle, his lean torso was exposed and covered with streaks of blood. “There you are! And look you found a stray!” He shouted in excitement when he laid eyes on the girl. “Well go on then kill her.”

The girl, realizing that things were certainly not about to work in her favor stupidly decided to make a run for the door. Without missing a beat Stella quickly back handed her with the gun and knocked her back into the closet in which she was held. “Don’t move from that spot!” Stella berated her. The girl looked up at her in fear and blood formed on her bottom lip. “Please, Please I’ll do anything you want!”

“Good, now do as I say and don’t move.”

Stella turned her head back towards Haluk “Go and fetch the captain, bring him here, tell him I have something for him.”

“What? But the captain said—”

“I said fetch the captain, tell him I might have something that might interest him. From there we will decide what needs to be done.”

Haluk left her alone and after a few minutes he returned with Kubra only Haluk and Desmond was tailing right behind him, matching his powerful stride.

“Stella, this had damn well better be important. You know I don’t like having my time wasted.” Kubra growled.

Stella moved to one side to show him the woman sitting inside the storage closet. Kubra took onelook at her and frowned at Stella “You summoned me here because you require assistance in killing this wench?!”

“No sir, you miss my point.” Stella said.

“Then speak and make it already. Why is she not dead?!”

Kubra made a face at her that said he was listening and it had better be a damn good reason.

Stella looked back at the girl and then back to her captain. “Sir, I think I may have found the solution to our little problem with Vause. This woman could be the answer.” Stella looked intensely into Kubra’s eyes to emphasize what exactly she was getting at. 

Kubra looked at Stella and then over at the young woman. She was beautiful little thing. What he really noticed were two distinct features about the woman, her hair and her eyes. A slight smirk came upon his lips as understanding began to flow through him. “I think you might be right about this one. Very good, Stella, very good.”

He chuckled as if to have read Stella’s thoughts “Perhaps that’s not a bad idea at all. Maybe, we can make the exception for one hostage.”

“Desmond bound and gag her we’re taking this one with us.”

Desmond came in filling the entire closet space and gathered her up. The woman immediately began to put up a fight, kicking her feet in the air and throwing her arms about. Then she started to scream. He clamped one of his big meaty hands over her mouth and they became muffled.

Kubra laughed “You’re quite a little scrapper aren’t you?”

* * *

Alex was finally relieved that the fighting had finally stopped. Lack of sleep made the sound of cannon fire seem far louder than usual and left a ringing in her ears. The entire time the fight was going on outside she sat by in anxiousness half expecting a cannonball to blow through and possibly even kill her. All the commotion that went on at the surface shook the whole ship. She went back to trying to calm her nerves and once again went right back to muttering the incantation.

“Oh great Tylassa I ask of thee, to bring back one who was lost to me, I pay this debt, my debt be true, an earthbound soul I give to you.” By the third time she recited it the door from the upper decks opened and Kubra led a group of his men down the steps to Alex’s prison. His boots clunked on every step and Alex could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke. “Hello, Alex. Are we sleeping well? I imagine you weren’t, what with all the commotion up top.”

Alex looked up at him, groggy and pale.“What do you want?”

“It’s good to see you too. We’ve gathered quite the haul and luckily have managed to replace the entire food supply that you have successfully destroyed with all of your murderous antics.”

“Congratulations.” Alex said flatly. “I’m so thrilled for you. Forgive me if I’m not leaping for joy. My legs are kind of cramped.”

Kubra smiled to himself. “Well, as always everyone is rewarded for their efforts and given their fair share. Even you Alex.”

“I’m sorry, but what role did I play in this because as I recall I’ve been down here for the past week.”

Kubra ignored the comment and continued talking. “We managed to find a little something for you. Something I think you might appreciate. You see, I’ve realized my mistake and I think I may have figured out a way to fix it. You’ve made quite the demonstration with a lot of my men since your return and I can’t afford to lose any more. And since hurting you doesn’t seem to be getting the message through your head, I thought we might try a different approach.”

Alex frowned. “And what exactly would that be?”

“You were absolutely right Alex, I can’t hurt you, not anymore. I personally ripped out your heart and now…. I’ve decided that I’m going to give it back to you.”

“What the hell are you talking about? I have a headache could you please start making sense.”

Kubra turned to Desmond. “Bring the girl down.”

Desmond came back with a woman in his arms writhing and fighting Desmond’s grip on her forearms that were tied behind her back. The girl was gagged and let out muffled angry cries. Desmond was dragging her down like a rag doll. He yanked her forward and they all stood outside Alex’s cage looking down at her.

Alex scowled at all of them. “What the hell is this?”

“This my dear, is insurance. From now on, whatever you decide to do to my men, I’m going to do to her. Didn’t manage to get her name but no matter, it’s not important. What’s important is, her safety, her life now depends entirely upon you. And if another man dies on this ship and I find out that it is by your hand…well, let’s just say things won’t go very well for her. I will personally start cutting off limbs. Maybe a finger, maybe the whole arm, maybe an eye, who knows.”

She scoffed at him “And just what makes you think I care what you do to her?”

“Because I know you Alex, despite how cold and ruthless you can be there is still a part of you that has a sort of weakness for the innocent, no matter how small. You don’t enjoy the blood of innocents on your hands. Besides I thought you would appreciate this. She is all yours, your responsibility. And I thought she might be your type, long blonde hair, blue eyes. She may not be the real thing, but if you squint your eyes a little she might pass for a pretty similar replica. Insurance for me and my gift to you.”

Alex, well beyond caring about Kubra’s wrath, practically spat out her words that were coupled with anger and fatigue. “You’re disgusting.”

“I take it that means you understand. She’s your responsibility now. No one will lay a hand on her so long as you don’t lay a hand on any of my men. The girl lives so long as you cooperate. You fulfill your end of this bargain, not only will I not harm her but she’ll be free to go once we get Tylassa.”

Alex said nothing and just glared at him. Her eyes looked up at the young woman. She was breathing harshly through her gag and seething with anger but her tears betrayed her fear. Kubra yanked away the gag from around her mouth as Desmond opened the cage and he violently shoved her inside.

“I’ll leave you both to it. How’s about a couple more days in the hold huh Alex? That should give you both a little bit of time to bond and get to know each other.”

Kubra smiled at her as he and his men began to file out. First Kubra, then Stella, Desmond, and then last was Haluk who held back a moment to throw a taunt at Alex.

He grinned at her showing all of his teeth, gums swollen from scurvy. “Do you mind if I stick around for a bit and see how it’s done?”

Alex shot him a deadly look that made Haluk inch back a step.

“Nevermind,” he said with a laugh “Just thought it wouldn’t hurt to ask.” 

After he left, Alex inched her way back into the corner of her side of the cell as if she were trying to inch herself further and further away from the woman. She curled in her lips, rolled her eyes, and huffed out a breath through her nose. She started to turn away from the young woman but then briefly turned her eyes over in her direction. The woman had locked herself in a fetal position, knees drawn up to her chest. After a while she started to cry silently to herself, her whole tough-girl demeanor now gone. Long blonde hair, now wild and filthy, rested just past her shoulders, blue eyes, makeup smeared and running down her face from sweat and tear stains, she looked close to her middle twenties by the looks of it. Even though her dress was now torn and covered in grime Alex could tell by the fabric that the woman came from a wealthy home. Alex found herself staring at her a lot longer than she had intended to and immediately turned away to look through the bars.

This woman was not going to last very longand Alex was sure Kubra was going to kill her either way. It would only be a matter of time. Maybe if Alex were lucky enough the woman would get herself killed. But still, Alex found her looks to be very distracting and she hated her for it.


	12. Chapter 12

Deep in the bowels of the slave ship was it's cargo hold. But the cargo the ship carried wasn't food or supplies it was human bodies. It was a large storage space of over 150 slaves. There was no standing room, only enough to crouch and to lie on the harsh wooden planks that could splinter a person if one should move to much. Slaves were stocked and stacked on the shelves like items in a pantry. The only space that hadn't been occupied was a clear pathway that led from the steps of the large wooden latch door up top that divided down the middle. Tasha was one of the unfortunate ones to suffer the discomfort of being forced to lie down and be chained flat on one of the shelves. Uncomfortable wouldn't begin to describe her was barely enough slack for her to turn on her side. The brutal cut on her forehead was pulsating and if she stretched the muscles of her face she could feel it opening up. The blood from her nose and lip was now dried and crusted and Tasha couldn't help but run her tongue across the wound. Once again she was waking to the smell of shit, piss, vomit and the slightest hint of death. The air was hot and was thick with the stench that you couldn't breathe without inhaling some of it. Death was close. To the right of her was the body of a young black man who reeked of it, his eyes were closed so he looked to be sleeping though he was anything but. The open sores all along his body and the flies that buzzed around him left their offspring in the open wounds. The deep gashes around his ankles and wrists were the worst. The flesh had nearly been eaten away to the bone exposing the white meat.

As a slave Tasha was accustomed to seeing such horrible things. The sight of death and torture rarely fazed her but the smell, the smell of lingering death was one thing she could never overcome. The latch from the upper deck opened up letting in a flood of light. Coming down the steps came four men browsing through the hold to examine their stock. This had not been the first time. The men would go through the shelves and look around the floors at the slaves who sat knees drawn up and chained to one another. They were weeding out the dead and the weak, pulling the dead slaves from the shelves as if they were just spoiled food that needed to be thrown out. And this was the routine, every couple of days or so, the sick and wounded would die and their corpses most likely fed to the sharks. The number in the cargo hold became smaller and smaller. There was no telling who would be left with the opportunity to see land again. Either way it didn't matter, they would either die here at sea or await the slow death of what waited for them when they came to shore. Tasha had no idea where they were going or what it would mean for any of them but it was not going to be good. She worried for her girls, especially Suzanne. Every time a body was hauled away Tasha feared it would be one of her friends. Thankfully she had not seen any of them which meant that they were most likely still alive. But for how much longer?

One of the men started to come towards her and Tasha turned her body as much it would allow her to and looked away from the slaver. He reached up and slid the body of the dead man that lied next to her from off the shelf leaving a skid of human excrement and blood.

"How many is that?" One of the men asked.

"I count about ten more. Fuck it stinks down here. It's like the inside of an asshole."

"Quit your whinging mate. Let's get this lot up and overboard, aye."

"Any word from the captain about how much longer till we get to Vatana Bay, I can't keep doing this, it's the worse part of the job."

Tasha listened closely and concentrated her hearing on what they were saying. Vatana Bay? she thought Where was Vatana Bay?

"Just one more day if the tide is right and the winds are kind if we're lucky. The load on the ship gets lighter and lighter every day, the more bodies we lose the less of our share. Now enough let's get moving. Let's haul them out of here."

Tasha lifted her head slightly and watched as the dead bodies they hauled, now wrapped in blood soaked sheets were carried up the steps and out through the latched door. Once they were finished it was dark again. She lied there in silence for a while and thought about what those men had said. A day before they reached Vatana Bay, Tasha never heard of such place. Where was that and what did it mean for her and her friends?

"Cindy?" She called out in a hoarse voice. "Cindy?"

"Cindy are you awake? Say something if you are."

"I'm here and I can't sleep."

"Did you hear what they said?"

"I heard it. Something about Vatana Bay? Where the hell is that?"

"I don't know. Dammit I wish I knew where Suzanne was, and Lorna. We got to stick together. Find a way out of this place."

"And how the hell do you think we're going to get out of here exactly?"

"I don't know, okay. I don't know. But you could also help me think of something."

"Tasha, look at where we are. We aint going no where right now."

"Vatana Bay?" Came a small questioning voice "They say they taking us to Vatana Bay?"

Tasha and Cindy stopped talking at the sound of another woman's voice.

"Vatana Bay is the home of some of the largest slave cities in the world. Aint a slave alive who doesn't know of Vatana Bay."

"Who said that?" Tasha asked

"I did."

The voice came from one shelf down from Tasha and several bodies over.

"Well, "I did"" Tasha said, " I'm not a slave, me and my girls, none of us are."

"Not a slave? Well ya'll slaves now. You're on a slave ship like the rest of us. Bout to be sold at the marketplace. What masters y'all serve before they took ya'll?"

"Hey, didn't she just tell you that we ain't slaves." Cindy said harshly cutting in.

Tasha's response came a little more even-tempered. "What my friend is saying is we ain't been slaves for well over four years now. We came from the Caputo Plantation."

"Tobacco?" the woman asked.

"Aye, tobacco. But like Cindy said we ain't slaves no more. Ain't going back either. We had a taste of freedom for four years. Not going to fall back into old habits."

"If ya'll not slaves anymore how ya'll end up here?"

"Our ship was destroyed, we almost died and were left floating adrift in the water until we were captured."

"Ship? Slaves don't own ships."

"We were part of a crew, our captain was captured and the ship that took her destroyed our ship."

"So your captain was the new master you served?"

"That's all you got from that?" Cindy asked "No! It was by choice. Vause was the one who gave us our freedom."

"Vause?" Came another voice "I heard that name before, pirates. The pirate ship the Black Widow, you two came from the Black Widow? Someone actually destroyed it?"

"That's what I said."

"You all best stop talking," said a gruff manly voice "if they hear ya'll it's gonna be trouble. They don't want us talking to each other."

"What are they gonna do that they haven't already done? I'm gonna keep on talking." said Tasha defiantly "They won't kill us. We're worth more alive than dead. I'm done shutting up, I'm done acting like a slave that's not me anymore. Me and my girls are getting out of here soon as I get a plan."

Silence filled the dark room for the moment. "You two got names?" the woman asked.

"My names Tasha."

"Cindy."

"I'm Alison. I can't see you all but…it's nice to meet you both. And If you guys are really planning on getting out of here, I want to come with you."

"Hold on, just what the hell do you think this? We ain't exactly looking for recruits. We got a small select circle. And you don't just get to include yourself in that circle." Cindy argued.

"I have to get out of here. I have a family out there…a husband and daughter. We all lived together until I was sold off. I ain't seen them in two years. The last time I saw my daughter's face she was screaming and crying as they dragged me away on the back of a wagon. I have to get back to them. So if an escape is really what you're planning I think you both can use all the help you can get. You talk about being free, well I want a piece of that too."

Tasha was quiet for time out of sympathy for Alison. She knew all to well what it was like to be ripped away from your family, not exactly from personal experience, Tasha never knew her mother. But she had seen it enough times to know the horror of it. "All right Alison…you're in."

"Really?" Cindy asked.

"Yes, and she's right the more the merrier. We could use more help. There's strength in numbers as they say."

* * *

Tasha was suddenly jarred awake out of her sleep from the loud boisterous calls of the slavers that stormed down the steps. They hooted and hollered. They banged their swords on the wooden beams to awaken the prisoners.

"Wakey, wakey! Rise and shine you filthy mongrels. Up and at 'em!"

The slavers started pulling them off the shelves and hoisting some of them up from their awkward seating positions like they were just sacks of grain being tossed to and fro. Some of the slaves could barely stand up from having stayed seated for so long, muscles were weak, and many looked to be malnourished.

Before she knew it Tasha's chains were being undone and she too was violently pulled from the shelf. She stumbled and fell onto the wooden floor. It was a struggle to get on her feet and the man that pulled her made the mistake of stepping on her hand.

She cried out from the pain but was given no chance to comfort her hand for the man immediately pulled her up, "On your feet!" He growled as he shoved her into the line that was forming near the steps.

Tasha's eyes searched around for Cindy and she saw her in the next line beside her. Their eyes met, both of them were filled with fear and uncertainty.

"Get em out of here! Move it!"

Two of the slavers flanked them with a sword and pistol in hand and there was one at the head and one at the rear armed with a rifle. The one at the rear herded them out using the butt of his gun.

"Eyes front! Not one of you fuckers had better fucking look at me, look straight ahead!"

The slaves started shuffling up and out through the open hatch and they were rewarded with a flood of blinding sunlight. It was a sunny day, clear blue skies with light clouds overhead. The air was warm with a slight breeze. Tasha could feel the heat of the sun's rays on her face and back.

They were all brought out on deck and Tasha was able to get a good look at everyone. The slaves were filthy, covered in sores and feces. Some of them had wounds that were infected. Clothes barely hung from their bodies that they may as well had been naked.

More of the slaves kept coming out from the open hatches of the ship, a lot of them looked confused and scared. They shielded their eyes from the blinding light of the sun. To Tasha's relief she saw Suzanne. She looked over at Cindy and signaled with her eyes to look over. She did and Cindy saw her too. Poor Suzanne looked more terrified than any of them. But what was the most disturbing sight of all was the strange iron muzzle that they had secured around her mouth. It made Suzanne look more animal than human. Tasha's rage spiked at the sight of it, she couldn't imagine the ordeal Suzanne must of went through for them to apply something so barbaric. Suzanne's body was trembling and she was flinching. Cindy and Tasha's eyes connected again and Tasha could tell that the sight was upsetting to her as well.

Then came Lorna, who still looked to be all right but appeared to be just as shaken up as Suzanne, a small cut under her eye and a bloodied busted lip.

Without warning all of the slaves were suddenly huddled together and with a loud outcry one of the men ordered them all to strip down.

"Take them off, take them off now! Strip!" A lot of the slaves were confused and tremulously but the loud crack of a whip startled them into a panic and they began to take off what was left of their tattered clothes leaving them in the nude. When they didn't move fast enough the crew took it upon themselves to step in and assist by ripping their clothes from their bodies.

Tasha in spite of her pride complied as did Cindy for there was no real choice in the matter. They would have their chance for escape but for now they had to endure the humiliation. Tasha was more concerned for Suzanne and poor Lorna's state of mind, one wrong move and these men would hurt them.

As she predicted it didn't go very well for Suzanne she was still fighting them as they pawed the clothes from her body. Despite the muzzle on her face Tasha could see it in her eyes that she was on the verge of crying. Instinctively Tasha yelled for them to stop and lunged towards them but she was gutted by the butt end of someones rifle. Tasha was left in tears from the pain and her inability to help her friend.

"Clean 'em up!"

Buckets upon buckets of water were then thrown onto their naked bodies, Streams of blood, dirt, and grime ran along the ship's deck. They were prodded with mops and scrubbed harshly with rags and scrub brushed over their opened wounds that hurt something fierce. They kept dumping the water, giving them no chance to breathe and leaving them drenched. Tasha's thick dark wooly hair was now completely saturated with water and hung over her face. The whole ordeal seemed to go on forever.

"All right line 'em up and chain 'em, single file! Get these savages in line as we prepare to dock!"

When her vision cleared Tasha began to see the city out up ahead drawing closer and closer as the ship sailed into port. It was enormous and sat just at the edge of the sea. She could see the residential houses, horse carriages trotting through the streets, and the local shop signs. Other boats as small as dinghies were pulling in close beside them.

Tasha was snatched into line right behind Cindy. Shackles were reapplied to their wrists and another was applied around their necks that linked them together by a small chain. If one fell it would not only mean dragging the others down with you but possibly the risk of strangling yourself.

At last the ship docked and the gangplank was lowered down to the boardwalk. The crew pushed the Tasha and the other slaves urgently down the plank. She was careful to not stumble over and the feel of the splintering wood beneath her feet hurt.

"Keep moving! Keep moving! All of ya!"

And they shuffled along like this all the way down the boardwalk right to the city's edge. The ship's captain was leading them all.

This was their walk of shame; naked, chained, and wet, catching the looks of passerbys and onlookers. Onlookers that peeped their heads out of their horse drawn carriages. They covered their mouths as if revolted by their stench. Sneering faces, harsh slurs that Tasha had heard a thousand times before. Small children stopped and stared out of sheer curiosity before their mothers could turn them away.

One of the slaves stumbled and interrupted the cadence of their miserable stroll to wherever they were being taken. He was quickly corrected as the slaver violently hoisted him up and shoved him back into the line. And then they stopped.

The captain veered off a little to inquire with one of the local townsfolk. He was old fisherman working hard in his stall, sharpening the blade of his butcher knife before hacking the head off of a trout.

"Where is the slave market?"

The fisherman wiped the sweat from his face and pointed in the direction with his knife "Further down the docks. Near that ship there with the white sails."

The captain hadn't even bothered to thank him and continued to herd the line. Tasha saw the look on the man's face as they passed him by. His face seemed to hold a look of sympathy for them but then turned to the look of someone who didn't want to be involved. He turned his head back to his work and no longer made eye contact with any of them.

They walked the strip down towards the slave market and the white sails of the ship grew larger and larger in their sight and Tasha heard the growing commotion from the slave market.

"Gather round folks, gather round!" Hollered a thin looking white man in a long brown trench. He stood atop a long wooden platform that allowed him to look out over the crowd.

"Three black males, three black males! Sturdy and strong, good breeders, no stranger to hard work!"

"How much for the large buck?!" Shouted a man from the crowd. He was referring to the largest of the three men. He looked brutish and enormous, like a bull walking on two feet.

"For you my good man I'll give you the low price of forty pieces"

"That'll do."

"Sold!"

And the large bull of a man was pulled away. The skinny man in the brown trench looked up and saw the crowd of slaves coming towards them and jumped down from the platform. He greeted the ship's captain with a sleazy looking smile. Tasha could barely make out what they were saying to each other she only saw the quick exchange of several heavy pouches and then the captain giving a quick nod to the men behind him. Once again Tasha and the others were shoved forward and the crowd cleared a pathway for all of them. And once more Tasha could feel their eyes burning into her bare skin. There wasn't enough room on the platform so all the slaves were made to just line up right at its edge.

Tasha looked around to check the position of her girls. Cindy was on her left and three bodies over from Cindy she saw Suzanne shaking like a leaf and looked on the verge of another possible tantrum. She prayed Suzanne could sit tight long enough for them to figure out a plan. But this was Suzanne. Considering everything that they've been through it was very unlikely. Right beside her was Lorna who looked equally afraid.

Be patient, she thought to herself, We'll get our chance. They would get through this.

"All right everyone as you can see, some new blood for you!"

The crowd cheered and Tasha took advantage of the noise to whisper to Cindy while keeping her eyes facing straight ahead. "How you doing?"

"How do you think I'm doing?"

" I know, stay strong. We'll get through this." Tasha side stepped a little closer to her and discreetly reached her chain hands over to give her best reassuring squeeze to one of Cindy's fingers. She squeezed back as best she could.

"I don't know, this ain't looking to good for us."

"We're gonna be all right."

"You say that like you have control over what happens here."

A woman from Tasha's right whispered over to her "Hey, ain't you Tasha?"

"How you know that?"

"I recognize your voice from the ship, I'm the one you've been talking to…Alison."

Tasha's eyes wandered a little to look at her. She was a brown skin woman who was long in the face, two plated braids atop her head , and dark brown eyes. "Nice to finally see your face." she said.

"Same." said Tasha "Too bad it's under these circumstances."

The man with the trench coat cracked his whip and it came dangerously close to Tasha's face. "Shut your mouths!" and just a smooth as ever he went right back to speaking to the intrigued crowd.

"Step right up and have a look see, come on now don't be shy!"

Potential buyers slowly went down the line, sometimes one at a time sometimes two, strolling through to examine the slaver's men as old as she or even older with heavily wrinkled faces probing the inside of her mouth with their bare hands to examine her teeth. Tasha had to fight the urge to bite down. The overseer watched over them and made a comment to the buyers about her full figure and breasts and made boasts of good breeding potential. One of the men grabbed a hand full of her breast as if to check for himself. And Tasha saw Suzanne wasn't fairing any better. She silently willed for her to keep quiet, it would be over soon. Escape would be foolish at this point. There were too many men surrounding them armed with rifles and blades, they wouldn't get two feet. And even if they did where would they go? Former slaves on the run, no allies, in a strange land that served as a hub for the peddling of human flesh.

One man dressed in a fancy suit, tall, bearded, and handsome stopped to look at Tasha, Alison, and Cindy. He pinched Tasha's cheeks and turned her face from side. Meanwhile Tasha couldn't help but notice the attention of some of the armed men, two of them were paying extra special attention to Lorna. Lorna seemed to notice as well and held her head down to avoid eye contact. The two men were whispering to each other, pointing at her and eyeing her suspiciously.

"I'll take these three." said the man in the fancy suit.

It brought Tasha's attention back towards him and she was taken aback and the enormity of his words settled into her mind. Panic began to set in.

" a pleasure, very well my good man, very well, good choice."

Tasha and Cindy both exchanged looks with one another and both understood that all of them were about to be separated from each other.

The man paid the overseer with a few coin bags and requested that Tasha and the others be hitched up to his carriage. The overseer complied and began to unchain Tasha, Cindy, and Alison.

"Hey there, overseer!" Called one of the armed me that had been looking at Lorna "Let me have a look at that one there!"

The overseer finished his business with Tasha and stepped back over to where Lorna and Suzanne were standing. He hoisted Suzanne's head up in the assumption that that was who they were talking about.

"No, not the muzzled one, the one next to her, the pretty one."

Lorna started to fidget when the overseer began to touch her. He grabbed her face and forced her to look at the two men.

The armed men looked at her for what seemed like the longest time and then their eyes seemed to light up.

"My god, it is her, that there is Lorna Morello, she's the one who attempted the murder on the Lady Wiles, Lord Kristopher's wife. I knew I recognized her face."

Lorna suddenly spoke out of turn in her own defense. Her voice was shaky and her eyes were brimming with tears "There must be a mistake and…and I can assure you that—"

The two men ignored her and placed their attention with the overseer. "Well be taking this one. Unchain her." They broke through the crowd and asserted themselves to the front.

"Hold on there," the overseer halted a hand out to stop them both, " I assume you both intend to pay, I don't care if you know the bitch."

"I said unchain her, we are men who are of service to Lord Kristopher Wiles, and there is a warrant for this woman's arrest. She is not a slave. She is as of this moment a prisoner and also as of this moment in our official custody by order of Lord Wiles."

"I don't care about your fancy bloody titles or what Lord you serve, you pay, same as everyone else. Now fuck off."

One of the men drew a knife from their belt. "Stand aside, or we will take you as well for interfering with an officer of the court. Or we could just reveal your insides right here and now."

The overseer grimaced and reluctantly took a step back. "Fine then, unchain her."

In that same moment as Tasha watched with great apprehension, another man had taken an interest in Suzanne and she too was being unchained. Everything was starting to unravel. Cindy looked at Tasha as if to ask what they were going to do.

Her panic grew. No, they had to stick together, Suzanne wouldn't make it by herself and by the looks of it Lorna would possibly be facing a worse fate. That last remaining members of the Black Widow crew had to stick together.

Once Tasha was free, she erupted into an outburst "No! No, you have to take them too!" she cried out as she referred to both Suzanne and Lorna, "You have to take them too!" she begged her new slave owner.

"Shut your mouth!" the overseer yelled.

"No, please! You have to take Suzanne, you have to take them both!"

"I said shut your mouth!" The overseer stormed over to where they were.

Tasha made the terrible mistake of rushing towards Suzanne and Lorna. She was immediately struck across the face by the overseer and Cindy, reflexively tried to help her friend but they were rushed by a group of armed men that began to shove them in the direction of the slaver's carriage. "No,no! we cant leave! You have to—no!"

The overseer shouted to several of his men "Get them out of here! Assist Mr. Wilhelm and load 'em up."

The men crowded around Tasha and Cindy and strong armed them towards Mr. Wilhelm's carriage. "No! Suzanne!" Before they knew it, it was no use Tasha and Cindy were pushed further and further away by the force of the crowd of armed men. And the sight of Suzanne, Lorna, and the other slaves were getting further and further out of sight. Tears filled her eyes, for now she feared the worst, their numbers had dwindled. All she had now was Cindy and a new companion in Alison and once again she no longer knew where they were going. And worse still, she had no idea if her other mates would be safe. Though she knew the hard truth was, they most likely wouldn't.


	13. Chapter 13

"Captain, look."

One of Kubra's men pointed off into the distance to a large cluster of thick, dark, grey clouds to the west of the ship and the brief flashes of lightning that illuminated them. The sea was getting choppy and the wind grew strong and fast making even a ship as large and strong as the Jackal sway from side to side.

"Aye , I see it." He grumbled.

Stella stepped up beside him. "Looks to be hurricane weather. Your orders sir?" she asked.

He started down the steps towards the deck and passed along his instructions to Stella "Order the men to batten down the hatches, secure our holdings and stow away the cannons, douse all the fires from the lanterns, and set up a team to replace the canvases with the storm sails."

"With all do respect sir, replacing our regular sails takes at least a day in good weather. By the looks of it we don't have a day, a couple of hours maybe. And that's not counting the time it will take to bring them down."

Kubra looked at her, his jaw clenching. He looked to be suppressing the urge to snap at her but his features relaxed at the realization that she was right.

"Very well, just take them down then. Can't afford to have them torn. You can do that can't you? That shouldn't take too long right? Assemble a team."

"Aye, sir." She said softly as she glowered at him.

"Kubra!" the captain shouted from one Kubra's neighboring fleet of ships "Squall over to the west and she's a big one!"

"I can see that! Have your men take the necessary precautions!"

"Aye!"

* * *

Alex could hear the sound of rolling thunder, a dull roar that she judged to be a few miles away and soon in range within about an hour or so. The heavy rain came first, pouring so hard and so fast it sounded like a rushing stream of water coming down right on top of them. The steady flow of the ship started to become not so steady, rocking from side to side and shifting certain objects around the room with it. Alex watched as the stool just outside the cage scraped across the floor going back and forth. The air around them was damp making the floorboards and walls smell like wet rotting wood. Water was seeping in little by little like sap from a tree in between the tiny cracks of the ship's hull making small puddles on the floor near by. Alex took notice and her anxiety spiked. Though on the outside she appeared calm her instincts as a captain forced her to make small judgements to the ship's condition and how well it's wooden planks would hold. And suddenly, Alex started to feel very uncomfortable in her cage. And the realization that she was trapped down here really settled in.

On the other side of the cell the blond haired girl Kubra had brought in earlier still hadn't stopped crying the moment they had brought her in. The sound of her sniffles and hiccuping shallow cries were starting to annoy Alex and they interrupted her thoughts. She held no sympathy to the woman's tears. She could take no more of it. There was the sound of the impending thunderstorm that was growing outside, the patter of the rain, the scraping of the wooden stool and the girl's sniffling cries all coming together like an annoying symphony.

"Could you please stop?" Alex said in a strained voice. "I can't hear myself think with all of your obnoxious sobbing."

The woman continued to cry soft halting sobs as if she hadn't even heard her and she seemed to only get louder.

"Shutup. Enough already!"

"I'll cry as much as I damn well please!" the woman cried out. "I've just been captured in case you have noticed. And now I'm a hostage. These kind of things don't happen to me, why is this happening to me? How the hell did it come to this? I didn't ask for this. I was traveling to my sister's home to see her for her natal day. It would be the first time that I've seen her in years."

Alex rolled her eyes and spoke in an even tone."I didn't ask to hear your life. I don't care. I only asked that you be silent so that I can think."

"They're going to kill me." She sniffled. "They're going to kill me. Doesn't matter what that man said, this is really the end isn't it? I'm going to die here aren't I?" her voice cracked. "Oh my god I'm going to die."

Alex didn't look at her. "Probably. You'll most likely just get yourself killed so maybe they won't have to."

The woman looked up at her, her sobbing stopped, offended she was by Alex's blatant and cold response.

She frowned at her, "How can you say that?"

Alex lifted an eyebrow at her and sassed "You asked. And it's most likely true. Women like you don't last very long at sea." But Piper did, Alex thought, Piper was different. She could never be Piper. No one ever could.

"Highborn women such as yourself lack the most basic survival skills." Alex snarked, "And your whole life is based on others doing for you therefore you don't know how to do for yourself. Death is a high probability for you."

"How did you know I was highborn?"

Alex didn't feel like dwelling too deep into the conversation or explaining herself and just gave her a very curt and sharp answer that was meant to cease all talk between her and the girl. "I just do. It's not that hard to figure out."

The woman made a sour face but seeming to sense Alex's displeasure, became quiet. Alex was thankful that she wasn't crying as much anymore at least but after a beat the woman started to talk again. The way she talked though was as if she were slowly trying ease herself back into a possible conversation, until Alex should decide to snap at her again.

"So…you're a prisoner here as well?"

Alex scrunched her face and looked at the woman as if she were thinking Alex bitterly quipped "No, actually I'm hitching a ride to visit my cousin, the duchess of Verlin."

"The Duchess of Verlin? There—There is no duchess—"

The woman looked up and saw the vexed look on Alex's face "Oh—Oh… you weren't serious." Her face became red from embarrassment and her eyes averted sheepishly to the ground "So you were captured

then?"

Alex said nothing and another wave of silence passed between them.

"My name is Olivia, Olivia Hensling. What's yours?"

"I didn't ask for your name, I don't care what your name is, it doesn't matter." Alex mumbled. She turned away and chose instead to just watch the water seep in through the cracks. In her head she counted the distance of the thunderstorm.

"Well you're a rude one. And I guess I should've known you weren't highborn, you certainly don't look it, you look like you've been taking a beating. Why did they capture you?"

"Again, could you possibly just shut up! Close your mouth and press your lips tightly together."

"Fine, I can see that you're not interested in talking," she said in an outburst. "And…maybe you're right in the assumption that I am lacking in the experience of fending for myself but maybe we can figure out a way to work together and—"

Alex held up a hand "And I'm going to stop you right there. There is no we!" she snapped again. "There's never going to be a we, there is only me. I don't care what happens to you. You want to get out of here figure it out yourself I got my own plans and my own problems."

"I'm only saying that maybe we can work together. Keep our sanity down here by talking to each other."

Alex guffawed with wry laughter "Sanity? Oh, oh my sanity is long gone."

"What is your problem?" Olivia asked. "What have I done to you?"

"Have you not been listening? I told you to shut your mouth and yet you're still talking!"

* * *

The hurricane dropped down on them much quicker than they had anticipated. The rain came down in a heavy rush, seeming to blow in from every direction, howling wind and the roar of the waves crashed onto the deck. Men took up their posts and held on for dear life as the ship violently started to rock. Up top tending to ship's masts was Stella, accompanying the men as they simultaneously tried to roll up the tarp. A blinding flash of lightning illuminated the ship's sound of the ship's wooden hull creaked and groaned against the crashing of the monstrous waves.

"Hurry up and get that tarp up!" Stella shouted over to one of the men. The rain hit hard against her face and the wooden beam she was crouching on was very slippery. One wrong move and she could fall and smack down hard onto the deck or be thrown into the sea. Down below Kubra was steering the ship but the giant waves were pushing them to and fro. The fleet of ships that surrounded them weren't having any better luck and soon it wasn't about just trying to correct the Jackal's course but having to avoid crashing into any of the other ships. But there was something worse coming out up ahead. A small jagged rock formation that peered out from beneath the waves right at the starboard side, and no one saw it in time. Kubra gave a hard turn of the wheel and it rapidly spun. The ship crashed against the rocks as it turned, scraping into the wood. Kubra cursed out loud into the roar of the thunder as he felt the rocks cutting into his ship until he was finally free.

* * *

It came rushing at them so quickly, Olivia and Alex felt the impact of the crash and saw the sea water rushing in almost immediately from the cracks of the ship's side and one new jagged one that let out vicious spurts of water that was rapidly starting to fill the room. It was already up Alex ankles. Olivia stood by screaming as she watched the water rush into the cell, sloshing around her feet. Alex ignored her and quickly started moving around the cell in a panic. She cursed as she shook at the bars and even went so far as to try and squeeze through them but to avail. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

"Oh my god, the water's rushing in!"

"Oh really? Aren't you a smart one!" Alex shouted without looking at her. Her mind was racing on what to do. The water kept rising and rising fast. The objects in the room were starting to float. Water was spraying them both leaving them drenched and Alex's hair feeling heavy on her head.

"Help! Help! Someone help us!"

Thunder boomed and the sea water was crashing up against the side of the ship. It nearly drowned out the sounds of Olivia's screams.

"Help! Help us! Can they not hear us?!"

"Stop it! Help isn't coming!" Alex shouted

"We're going to drown, we're going to drown!"

Alex continued to ignore Olivia's cries for help and focused her attention on the cell bars. She tried again and shook them as hard as she could. She checked each individual bar, checking for any weak spots of any kind. And then, she found a couple. They were a little loose, rattling inside of one of the holes they were embedded in. She tried to pull at them, thinking maybe she could wiggle them just enough to slide through. It didn't work. "Curse these tits of mine." She muttered to herself.

Suddenly the ship shifted hard to one side and it sent Alex flying back into the wall of her cell and splashing into the water. Olivia was thrown too and her body hit hard against one of the bars. Some of the objects in the room crashed and broke apart including the wooden stool. The ship groaned and creaked. Alex came up coughing and was soaking wet. She pushed her hair back away from her face and tried to catch her breath. Olivia, still crying and shouting up top for help to anyone that might care to hear. But the storm outside was much to loud. Alex seriously doubted that they would hear anything and even if they did she doubted help would come running fast enough.

Once she was able to collect herself Alex brought her mind back to the bars. She told herself to think and not panic which was getting harder and harder to do with the rushing water. She could not panic, if she panicked she would surely die and she could not allow herself to die yet. She had to get her beloved back. It was the only thing that mattered, a singular goal and therefore she could not die tonight. Nothing was going to keep her from it. She would die only if she failed in her mission. She made a promise to Piper, she had to keep it and she used that as her strength. Alex stood there for a time, eyeing the bars and still thinking. She gave the loose bar one more shake and her eye caught one of the legs of the broken stool floating nearby. She quickly grabbed it before it became too far out of reach. Not quite sure yet what to do with it she held it in her hand as she continued to formulate a plan, thinking as she went along.

And then it hit her, she would make a lever. Apply enough strength to the bars to pry them apart, didn't have to be a big gap but just enough for her to slide through. She immediately got to work and began to remove her soaked shirt. The water was already cold, but now that she was left in nothing but her bra Alex was really starting to feel it and it sent shivers down her back and arms.

"What are you doing?" Olivia asked.

Alex, ignoring her still, her wrapped her shirt around the two loose bars and tied it in a tight knot. When she finished she slid the wooden leg down the middle. Then came the hard part. She grasped both ends of the wooden leg like the spokes on a ship's wheel and began to turn it. It was hard and it took every bit of strength that Alex had to just get the two ends to point north and south. It was sapping Alex's energy.


	14. Chapter 14

"What are you doing?!" Olivia shouted.

"I'm getting the fuck out of here."

"And what is that going to do? You're not doing anything! We should be calling for help!"

"Fine you go ahead and do that, do whatever makes you feel better, just do it as far away from me as possible. But like I said no one is coming, no one can hear you!" The water had rose just above her knees. With all her might Alex tried to turn the makeshift lever again. She could the feel the bars loosening and they started to stretch. But the gap still wasn't wide enough to squeeze through. She just didn't have the upper body strength, at least…not by herself.

She stopped again and looked over at Olivia, still panicking, still shouting for help. Alex rolled her eyes and growled to herself. "Alright, enough already. You want to get out of here you're going to have to help me!"

"What?"

"Get off your ass and help me, or do you wish to die?!"

Olivia looking confused for a moment finally got over herself and sloshed over to where Alex was. "Wha-what do I do?"

"You're going to help me turn this."

"And what is this going to do?"

"I don't have time to answer your questions, just do as I say. Position your hands where my hands are and we're going to turn the bar clockwise. Now! Do it."

Alex's loud command made Olivia jump but she swiftly did as she asked. Together the two of the turned the lever, much better progress than Alex had made before and the bar started to creak and bend slightly. The water was sloshing up just above their knees. They stopped so Alex could check their progress. She started to squeeze through the bars, first her head, her arm, and before she knew it with a little more effort her body was through. It was still pretty tight but she made it. She was free.

Alex however did not wait for Olivia to come through, she was already wading through the water towards the steps and didn't bother to look back. Olivia tried to follow close behind her by mimicking what Alex did to get through the bars but with a sudden hard jerk the boat shifted again right as Olivia was pulling her leg through. Alex hit a wall and Olivia cried out in pain and even then Alex hadn't turned around, she focused on the door.

"I'm stuck!"

Alex looked back and saw that Olivia was about three quarters out of the cage. She was now lying in the water and it looked like her foot was still caught between the bars. She couldn't stand up. Alex turned away and continued towards the steps.

"Help! Please don't leave! My foot is stuck!"

Alex ignored her cries, came out the water and ascended the steps.

"You're really going to leave me down here? Help! Please don't do this! Don't leave me down here!"

Alex felt very inclined to leave her. She would die soon anyway, whether on her own, or by Kubra's hand it didn't matter. Kubra was dangling this girl in her face, taunting her with her presence. She was simply a kitten for her to name and care for so that Kubra can kill her later. Alex would not play his game. If the girl drowned she would be out of her way, the distraction would be gone. Though deep down there was still a small part of Alex that still cared. But that's not why she decided to come back. She was about to take another step but then in that moment Alex could hear Piper's voice in her head telling her to go back and help her, that it would be wrong to just leave her there. If Piper were here right now she'd want her to go back. So, much to her displeasure, she did.

Alex came back down the steps sloshing into the water until she stood over Olivia. She came down to her knees, fixed Olivia a look and growled to herself. Annoyed she was that she was even doing this but she could hear Piper's voice in her head clear as day telling her it was the right thing to do.

"Thank you, for a second I thought you were going to leave."

Alex didn't answer and immediately assessed the problem. Her boot was caught in an awkward position inside the bars. She tried to move it but her foot wouldn't budge. Stuck in a lying position, the water was coming up over Olivia's chest and partially submerging her face in the water.

"You're going to have to take off your boot." Alex stated matter of factly. "Wiggle it out."

Olivia did as she said and started to nudge her foot out of the boot while Alex tried to pry the boot off from her end. Olivia strained and with one hard tug her bare foot thunked into the water.

"Now get up!" Alex stood up and quickly waded back towards the steps and Olivia followed close behind trying to steady herself and move through the floating debris.

Alex pushed through the doors to the upper deck and the wind and rain hit her at full force almost knocking her off her feet. The ship was rocking from side to side and sea water would occasionally rush onto the ship. Her body was drenched, the rain felt cold on her bare skin and the force of the wind and rain blowing hard from the side stung on her face. It created a thick mist that was making it hard to see and Alex was blind enough already without her glasses.

Olivia was stumbling around right behind her and squinting her eyes as she tried to keep her feet steady She was right up under Alex, still frightened. She tripped and stumbled into Alex and caught herself by clutching on to Alex's arm. She snatched it away.

"What do we do now?!"

Alex harshly nudged her away when she was once again getting too close. The woman was practically jumping into her skin for protection. As if her presence wasn't annoying enough, the last thing Alex wanted or needed was clinginess.

A strong wave came from the side. The force of it was so strong the boat tilted and the water came rushing along the deck sweeping a handful of the crew including Alex and Olivia off of their feet. Men tumbled into the sea. Alex was only saved by the ship's capstan when she hit it with a hard thud. Falling right behind her was Olivia, the water pushing her fast towards the rails, the ship was on a slight angle.

Alex's response was pure impulse, she quickly extended her hand out and grabbed hold of Olivia's wrist. Olivia looked up into her eyes with so much gratitude and…trust.

"Pull yourself up!" Alex said firmly.

"I can't."

"Do it! Either you help me pull you up or I let you fall! Choose!"

"No, please!"

"Do it!"

Olivia looked up at her again and Alex paused at the sight of her blue eyes, her long blonde hair wet, stringy, and whipping around in the wind. And for a split second Alex saw Piper. It brought forth another memory; Piper's first time aboard the Widow, a situation similar to this. Piper nearly falling over the ship and she, right there diving after her without a second thought and latching on to her hand. Piper looking up into her eyes with so much fear and terror but soon overtaken by complete and total trust in her. Alex recognized that same look in Olivia. She hated this.

Olivia tried her best to hoist herself up as the ship simultaneously started to correct itself and Olivia was no longer slipping. When Alex saw she no longer needed her help she released her grip on her hand.

The ship was still violently rocking back and forth and there was still the risk of being thrown overboard. Thinking quickly Alex had managed find some rope. She unraveled it and she urgently started towards the steps that led up towards the ship's wheel and once again Olivia was following close behind as if waiting instruction. Alex took the rope and began to secure it to the railing, making it as tight and as strong as she could. She tied the other end around her waist into a tight knot. Alex forcefully handed Olivia another part of the rope and instructed her to do the same.

Olivia nodded quickly in understanding. They were grounding themselves to the ship should they ever be thrown from it again. Alex squatted down and just held on for the duration of the storm and Olivia did the same. Alex's plan proved to work. While objects and some of the ship's men were shifted and thrown from the deck because of the ship moving harshly from one side to another by the sheer force of the wind and tide, the rope kept them both secured, the only problem they had to deal with was the rushing water that flooded the ship's deck every now again going into their noses and mouths. Alex was holding on so tightly she could feel the blisters forming in the creases of her palms. She tightened the muscles in her thighs and legs as she braced herself for the impact of every wave.

It went on for what felt like hours but truthfully it may have only been thirty minutes. Alex was surrounded by the sound of the cries of the men yelling out into the air only to be drowned by the sounds of the thunder, the roar of the waves, and the howling of the wind. There was a loud explosion close by that came from one of the neighboring ships. Lightning had struck it with a loud piercing crackle and by the sound of it, it had ignited one of the ship's explosives causing an enormous blast. The ship was engulfed with flames and had already begun to sink. Alex heard the men shouting for help and their screams. Kubra gave sharp turn of the wheel to avoid the wreckage.

Before long Alex could feel the waves slowly starting to calm and the monstrous dark clouds over head were slowly transitioning to a medium gray. The rain had become a very light drizzle. It was becoming easier to see and all of the crew, those that survived, came out from their shelters. The deck was drenched, covered with seaweed and debris. Broken barrels, spilled rum kegs, splintered wood, the entire scene looked like a war zone. Looking up, Alex saw that the ship was missing a sail. One of the tarps hadn't been removed in time and was severely ripped in a jagged tear right down the middle.

When it seemed safe to move Alex started to untie herself and it wasn't until she did that she realized she was drenched and covered in seaweed herself. Olivia followed suit like the lost puppy she was.

Kubra came down from the wheel and assembled with the rest of his crew. He looked around to examine his fleet and saw that a couple were missing, taken out by the violent forces of nature. The crew had all come together on the deck, all of them soaked to the bone, out of breath. Kubra turned his attention to all of them, in his mind mentally counting how many men he had left.

"Clean this up," He commanded, "Set everything back to order, to your posts, the worst is over."

"You might want to get the ship builder to examine the ships holdings" Alex said speaking up behind him.

The other men and Kubra jerked at the sound of her voice. They hadn't even noticed that she had been among them. The men looked startled, like they were seeing a wild animal outside of its cage. Which to them was exactly how Alex looked. Most men would've found the look of Alex being in nothing but her bra and pants as arousing but no one dared comment or even entertain the thought. To them she looked primal and savage. And there it was again, the fear in their eyes, and Alex relished it.

Of course there was always Kubra, controlling his emotions, his looks hinging on fascination and fury "Vause…and just how the fuck did you manage to get up here?"

She didn't answer his question. "The holdings are leaking badly and have taken on a lot of water. I almost drowned. Perhaps you should have the ship's builder go down and examine them."

Kubra was silent for a while as he looked at her "Colt!" he yelled without taking his eyes from her.

"Aye sir!"

"Take two men. Patrol the ship and give a damage report. Assign roles."

"Aye, aye sir."

Alex didn't stick around to be chastised by Kubra, she would worry about that later. She was starting to feel tired from all the exertion. She looked at Kubra as she walked past "I'll be in my old cabin."

It wasn't a request. Kubra looked slightly irritated but made no motion to stop her. While in some ways he was enjoying this side of Alex his frustration came from the very little control he had over her. He hoped that girl they captured would change all of that. In fact he was sure she would. Playing on Alex's heart was the one and only truly effective card he had to play.

* * *

When Alex finally made it down to her old cabin her muscles were tired and aching. Right when she walked in the door she heard small footsteps creeping up behind her and she jerked around to see Olivia following behind.

"What the hell are you doing?" Alex asked.

"I-I um…"

Alex walked the rest of the way inside "This is my bunk find somewhere else."

"I don't know where else to go."

"Anywhere but here would be just fine."

Olivia still stood in the center of the room and watched while Alex continued to ignore her as she prepped her bed for the night.

"You're still here." She said not looking back at her.

"I'm sorry, I just…I just don't feel comfortable being out there with all those men."

"That's not my problem, besides no one is going to touch you until Kubra tells them to."

"What do you mean 'until'?"

"I mean should I ever decide to kill again your days are numbered unless you can get out of here yourself, I suggest you figure something out quickly."

"What is wrong with you I helped you escape, we would've drowned. You wouldn't have gotten out of that cage without my help."

"Aye, you've served your purpose now you can fuck off."

"Fuck off?! So that's it then, you ask for my help and then it's fuck off?!"

Alex's temper was flaring up from fatigue and irritation with this woman. She sucked in her lips. She whipped around towards her. "All right listen, I'm going to make this very simple for you….I don't like you. Let's just make that clear."

"Couldn't be more clear if you slapped me in my face."

"Don't tempt me."

"And why do you not like me, you don't even know me."

"I don't care. We are not friends—"

"I wasn't asking to be."

"I am not your protector. I frankly don't want anything to do with you. In fact your face, your hair, your very presence disgusts me. Stay the fuck away from me, stay the fuck out of my bunk!"

"But where am I supposed to go?!"

"Figure it the fuck out!"

Olivia stood there defiantly, seeming to think of another comeback or another excuse.

"Was I not making myself clear? Get out!"

"You're a real bitch you know that. Is this what you do? Use people and then toss them away as if they don't have feelings or mean anything."

Alex had enough, she snatched the knife from her belt and rushed Olivia against the wall by the collar of her shirt. Her other hand had the knife right at the jugular of her throat. Olivia shrieked and looked up into Alex's burning green eyes with sheer terror.

"You think you have something to fear from those men out there?" Alex whispered harshly "Well let me tell you it's far worse in here. You think I was in that cage because I was a prisoner? You're wrong. They put me in that cage because I am a threat. Before you came along I killed a nice handful of those men on this very ship and I'm not done yet. I might even decide to add you to the list if you continue to annoy me. You can't trust anyone on this ship, especially me. Now one last time…"Alex forced her point by ever so slightly pushing the tip of the blade into Olivia's skin. " Get the fuck out of my bunk."

Alex slowly removed the knife and glared at Olivia as she backed away towards the door, the hint of fear still evident on her face. She didn't turn her back on Alex, probably for fear that she would lodge the blade into her back.

Standing in the doorway just before leaving Olivia said,"I don't think you're as cruel as you say. You may not like me but you also could've let me drown, you could've let me fall, but you didn't. You came back. So I doubt you'll kill me. I'll leave… but you're still a bitch."

Alex came at her again, and without a word grabbed her by her forearm and shoved her out the door just before slamming it in her face. She turned and crawled into bed with her back facing the door. Alone at last and away from that annoying thorn in her side, she shut her eyes and tried to fall asleep to the memory of her most private and intimate thoughts.


	15. Chapter 15

"Sleeeeep…" Piper gently cooed as she paced the floors of the hut with little Goodall in her arms.

"Sleep… please for the love of god just sleep. Please I beg you, your aunt's arms are getting tired."

The small babe softly whimpered and sounded as if she were on the verge of another outcry. Piper started to slowly bounce her shoulders up and down to add to her pace and the child's whimpering started to simmer.

"There you go, there you go." Piper huffed out a sigh of relief and gradually started to place her niece down into her little bassinet made of straw and leaves.

When she saw the baby was now sound asleep Piper crossed her legs and collapsed down to the floor and ran one hand through her hair from exhaustion. Piper had been used to running her fingers down the length of her hair and it still felt strange to no longer feel the weight of it on her back. The road to recovery had been long and painful. Piper's wounds were now completely healed leaving behind only the scars of her trauma. The more prominent ones like the gunshot wound just above her left breast, raised and lumpy with scar tissue and the brand on her forearm that Piper chose to keep bandaged and out of sight. The ones on her face were much lighter and looked smooth to the touch. A lot of her hair had grown back, the bald spots were filled in, and it's length now stretched just below her chin. The worst part of her recovery came during the night when she would try to sleep, waking up in a cold sweat, trying to overcome the terrible nightmares, reliving the horrible moments of what Kubra's men did to her over and over again. This led to panic attacks and left her trembling and the feeling as if she couldn't breathe. She felt bad because sometimes she would wake up screaming, taking poor Cal and Neri out of their sleep and sometimes even waking little Goodall. But they never gave her a hard time about it. Instead they were always there to calm her down, Cal especially who was there to remind her that she was safe. To spare Neri the trouble of having to put Goodall back down to bed Piper had took it upon herself to rock her back to sleep. It was the least she could do since she kept frightening the poor child.

Soon Piper had invented her own ritual for coping with the nightmares. Whenever she had an attack she would gently rock back and forth in her bed and then focus on a single pleasant vision inside of her mind. It was almost instinctual that she imagined Alex's face. And she found herself mentally describing Alex to herself.

"Alex has hair as black as a raven's wing and eyes like glowing emeralds." Over and over she would mumble this to herself as she would clench the muscles of her fists really tight before relaxing them.

Before long it became a mantra of sorts for her, _"black as a raven's wing and glowing green emeralds."_

It had helped a lot and soon the nightmares and the micro flashbacks during the day became less frequent. Whenever she felt like she was having another episode Piper quoted the mantra in her head and clenched her fists. Sometimes she clenched them so tight her nails would dig into her palms.

Apart from the panic attacks it was a struggle for Piper to get used to being touched again especially by men. Every day got easier but every now and then she would still flinch. The muscles in her arms and legs had returned to normal and she no longer needed the staff Taka had given her to walk, instead it had been put to another purpose.

One day when Piper had been resting in bed, Taka surprised her by charging into Cal and Neri's hut, leaping on to her pallet, and swatting at her with his own wooden staff. It startled her from her sleep and she rolled out of bed in a panic and confusion but Taka didn't stop swinging. Piper had been clumsy on her feet and in a fright she ducked and moved things around the hut to block his path all the while yelling harsh curses at him and screaming for him to stop. Cal and Neri weren't home and neither was Goodall. It was only she and Taka. Taka, chasing her around swinging the large staff and making a mess of everything as he tried to hit Piper. He succeeded a few times landing a hard hit to her back, the shins of her legs, and one hard hit to the chest knocking her flat on her back. It knocked the wind right out of her. Piper got up in anger and started throwing things at him but Taka deflected them with ease using the staff.

When she ran out of things to throw, Piper charged at him to tackle him to the ground. A big mistake. Taka effortlessly moved to one side and aimed one end of his staff to her gut and the other side to her back and once again she was on the ground. She rolled over and saw Taka standing above her twirling his staff clockwise like he was waiting for her to get back up. When she didn't get up fast enough Taka quickly moved to jab her in the stomach and Piper moved out of the way once again she was back on her feet.

He continued to swing and Piper continued to run around the hut. With every swing of his staff he was inching Piper closer and closer towards the door and right by the doorway Piper reflexively grabbed her own staff. Taka seemed pleased by this for Piper could see the smile spreading on his face. This was a game to him. This was all a game and Piper was an unwilling participant.

He didn't give Piper a chance to protest and his attacks became more harsh and relentless. Out of sheer luck Piper blocked his staff but Taka returned with a kick and knocked her through the doorway and nearly over the edge of the rope bridge. Piper quickly collected herself when she saw that she nearly fell to her death.

"What the hell is the matter with you?! Are you trying to kill me?" Piper yelled at him.

"Get him back Piper!"

Piper looked up and turned around to see her brother up and across the way at another hut along with Neri and whole group of spectators watching with great enthusiasm.

"Cal?!"

"Get him back! Watch your head! Duck!"

Right then Piper did as instructed and ducked just in time to dodge a mighty swing from Taka. And the fight took to one of the rope bridges that connected them to another hut.

"That's the way! Keep it up!"

"You're encouraging this?!"

"We have to get your muscles back in working order! Taka's only trying to help he's not going to hurt you!"

Piper looked up and scowled at him, "The bruise on my chest disagrees with you!"

WHACK!

"Ouch!" Piper cried.

"Stop talking Piper and focus! Watch your feet and fix your stance!"

Taka stopped what he was doing and walked up to Piper. Without using any words he grunted and used his hands to stress what he wanted her to do. He grabbed her right hand and firmly placed it towards the top of her staff and he guided her left slowly towards the bottom. With a hard grunting noise he accentuated that her grip should be firm.

"Strong." Taka said with power in his voice.

It was the first word in the common tongue that Piper had ever heard him say though his accent was still very heavy in his voice.

"You.." Taka hit her staff with his "Strong. Hard."

"So, you _can_ speak the common tongue?" Piper asked.

"Hard!" Taka screamed as he attacked her again. But this time it was a lot slower, meant for her to pick up on his movements and after a few more hits to her body and her pride Piper started to get the hang of it and the fight became more interesting to watch but still one sided.

As they fought Piper had just so happen to look up and see the red and white feathered owl that she had saw before, up high in the trees and watching them. The other night Piper had come to think that the bird had been watching her, only to come to the conclusion that maybe she was only imagining things. Piper didn't know much about owls, she only knew them mostly to be nocturnal creatures. But yet here it was again in the full light of day, happily perched up on a branch seeming to be just as interested in the fight as the other onlookers…or just her. She knew she wasn't imagining it anymore, it really was focused on her. Why? She did not know. This bird was smart. It had to belong to someone, maybe someone in the village.

WHACK!

"Hey!"

"Oopoo!Focus!" Taka yelled as he hit her in the back of the head with his stick.

They went at it for a couple of hours and the crowd of spectators slowly dissipated going back to their regular routines. Taka hadn't broken a single sweat and by the end Piper was sore all over and her hands were red and blistering.

Cal had came along and patted Piper on the back "You didn't do too bad, I like the part where you kept getting back up."

"That kid hits hard. I feel all of it in my back."

"He had better. Taka is one of the strongest warriors of the tribe. Only 15 years old and second only to his older brother."

"He's fifteen?"

Cal nodded "Sixteen in couple months and to the tribe he will finally be recognized as a man. You're learning from the best Pipes."

"Was this all your idea?"

"Mostly and Taka was the one who volunteered. We all got to pull our own weight around here. And we need to build your strength back up, can't have you wasting away in the bed. Bantu specialize in two things: fighting and climbing. All Bantu must learn this, even the women."

And it was the climbing Piper found to be the most difficult. The Bantu spend the majority of their time in the trees, high up in the canopies. So very rare it was to see them on the forest floor. Piper had learned from Neri that the Shikari Isles were known for flooding when it rained. The homes of the Bantu were built in the trees to not only protect them from the floods but from hostile neighboring tribes.

Taka had taken Piper out into the woods to practice climbing, with Cal deciding to tag along acting as a translator. They found a tall tree with a thin trunk and very few branches that were very far apart from one another. Taka leaped onto the tree and ascended it effortlessly. He leaped from branch to branch using the muscles in his legs. He made it look as easy as breathing. The first time Taka demonstrated the proper technique. He then looked at Piper and positioned his hands on the trunk to show her how she should position hers and then he showed her his feet.

Piper did try. She hadn't even gotten to the climbing part and she found that just positioning herself felt strange for her legs and arms. She felt awkward and oddly positioned. She felt stupid hugging the tree with her entire body.

"I feel ridiculous."

"You look ridiculous. You're doing it wrong." Cal said. "Don't hug it. You have to keep your body away from it. Press your feet into the trunk and keep a close distance between your hands and your feet as you start to climb."

Piper's eyebrows came together "What?"

Cal stepped up to show her once more. Surprisingly, despite his stocky size Cal too could climb it, though he wasn't as fast as Taka.

"See. Easy. Now try again."

Piper looked at Taka and Cal and tried once more. But Piper couldn't manage to get up more than two steps. She slipped, she slid, her muscles ached from the strain. Taka stood by looking amused and had a closed lipped smile on the verge of a laugh. Apparently he found her failures to be rather comedic as did Cal who held no shame in laughing at his sister. Watching Piper fall on her butt repeatedly and twirl around like a rag doll was a joy to watch.

"Eh don't worry you'll get it eventually with practice. The Bantu start doing it from the time they are able to walk. We just have to keep getting your strength up. Build the muscles in your legs and arms."

Piper looked at Taka as he smiled and laughed at her. And Piper almost found it to be adorable, like she was seeing the child that he truly was for the first time. Piper had grown to tolerate Taka a little more and had taken Cal's advice to be a little nicer towards him. The kid really wasn't so bad. And Cal was right, he did save her life and she would be dead right now if it weren't for him. Taka even backed off a little with his persistence of constantly being in her face and by her side every time she turned around. There was still the issue of the language barrier between them and she still couldn't quite understand what he was saying all the time. But over time she was slowly beginning to understand certain words and read body language. She could see the same was for Taka when it came to the common tongue. He was learning as well or at least trying to.

One time when they set out to train with their staffs Taka greeted her with his best smile and out of the blue told her that he thought her hair was pretty, though it didn't come out as clearly. He had gestured with a hand down his own hair and had said the word "pretty" as if he were trying the word out for the first time, and then he would point to her.

Piper took the compliment with grace and said thank you. If she didn't know any better she'd say the kid really wanted her to like him and not just in a friendly way. But Piper dismissed it because it didn't seem like anything worth fretting over. Nothing would ever come of it, he was just a child with a small case of an infatuation for her and it would pass.

* * *

"Hey Piper we're back!" Cal announced as he and Neri walked through the door.

Piper stood up and wiped her hands on her mud colored skirt. "Shhh I finally got her to stop crying she's asleep."

"Oh really?" Cal asked "Sorry about that. How long did it take you? Neri's got the record for ten minutes and I've got twenty."

"Almost a half an hour."

Neri walked over to the bassinet and saw Goodall sleeping "Wow, good job Piper. You're getting better at this."

"How was your outing?" Piper asked.

"It was good." said Neri "It's nice to get some time for ourselves. Cal and I found this fat and thick cluster of Harvestmen Spiders."

Piper bristled at the image of a cluster of spiders."Really?"

"It was amazing" Cal added. I thought it was just a thick patch of hairy fur but then Neri poked it with a stick and all of them just scattered.

"Speaking of which it looks like you got one of them in your beard honey" Neri said calmly as she plucked it with her first finger and thumb.

"Hmph, now how did that little guy get in there?" Cal mumbled to himself.

"Your beard is practically a nest for all kinds of creatures, who knows what else is in there." Neri teased as she started to make herself comfortable in their home.

"You're probably right. So you ready to go Piper? Goodall didn't wear you out too much I hope?"

"No I'm all right, let's go."

"Thank you again Piper. I'll see you both later this evening." Neri called out to them they walked out of the hut.

* * *

Out of breath Cal sat down on the trunk of a fallen tree "Okay, I think I'm done. You win."

"C'mon Cal just one more round."

"No," He said between breaths, "You are the victor, I yield."

Cal and Piper had been spending a lot of the time in the jungle doing mock sword fights with sticks. It was something Cal had initiated once Piper had become physically able. Another bit of training for her. But what Cal hadn't known was that Piper was already well experienced with a sword. So it came as a shock for him whenever Piper bested him in a fight. To be fair it had been a long time since Cal had trained with a sword but it had started to come back to him like second nature. Cal had been able to teach Piper a few things but their fighting styles were completely different. Growing up in a castle Cal had been trained by the best captains and soldiers in their father's guards. But men like those fought with honor and etiquette. A match made up of rules. Alex had taught Piper to fight, to really fight, to bend and break the rules in her favor if need be. Sword fighting with Alex also gave Piper a new perception on how the real world truly worked, about people.

So for Piper when she and Cal did their mock sword fights, to her there were no rules, she fought to win. And though she would never say it out loud Cal wasn't much of a challenge to her. But Piper enjoyed it for the bonding and it took her mind off of things she rather not think about. Mostly, Alex. She thought about her everyday, every moment, especially at night. Leaving her to cry herself to sleep sometimes. During the day Piper would engage in some sort of activity so that she wouldn't have to think about her. Piper had already made her decision to stay on the island and the guilt ate away at her for it. In her heart she wanted to go after Alex and there were times when Piper almost felt enough courage to do so but the fear was still strong and held her back. All of her failures would come flooding back into her memory and she feared only making things worse. Piper felt lost. She was not fit to rescue Alex. She didn't deserve Alex.

Finally catching his breath Cal spoke again, "When did you get good at this? I have to say it's…it's so strange seeing you move around like that. You really know what you're doing."

Piper shrugged, "I had a good teacher."

"Who?"

Piper gave him a look that said did he really need to ask?

"Oh, that's right Alex. Well, she did a really good job."

Piper tossed away her stick and sat down beside her brother on the trunk. Cal let out a sigh "It feels so good out here, sounds of the birds and the wildlife….it's nice. This is where I'm meant to be. Not inside some castle."

Piper didn't look at him she only nodded. Her voice was calm, "Yes, it is….peaceful." And yet she felt so much chaos going on inside of her. The brand on her wrist that she kept hidden underneath her bandage was peeping out from underneath it. Every time she looked at it she felt it's burn. She quickly re-covered it.

"So what's she like? Vause?"

"Cal I already told you in the beginning I don't want to talk about Alex. I can't think about her. It hurts." Piper said firm but soft.

"And I told you I wouldn't pressure you into going back and I meant it. I'm just curious to know more about my sister in law."

Piper blushed, "Cal I never said we were married." Surprisingly Piper hadn't even thought about being married to Alex. Between the two of them they've been so busy dealing with other problems the thought just never came up. And Piper wasn't even all that sure if Alex was even into the tradition of marriage. Not that it mattered to Piper, just being with Alex was good enough for her. But if the topic had come up, Piper would've said yes without question.

"Okay, your girlfriend then, what's she like?"

"I can't talk about her Cal." She said with rising inflection.

"You know you say her name in your sleep? Neri and I can hear you sometimes. And I've never known you to talk in your sleep."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not a complaint it's a concern. I can tell you have a lot of bottled up emotions. It would be good to let some of them out."

Piper sighed and once again the mantra popped into her head, _Alex has hair as black as a raven's wing and eyes like glowing emeralds._

She spoke in a soft and hesitant voice, "Alex is…strong and fierce and yet… so wonderfully tender. I've never met a woman like her before. Every time I look at her I feel like I'm seeing a living embodiment of the heroines I used to read about when I was child. I admired them, I wanted to be like them, even though I knew my life would ever be anything like theirs. And then meeting Alex was like seeing them come to life." Piper paused for a moment, "She's the most beautiful woman in the world to me, inside and out. And…"

Piper's voice was starting to choke with the threat of tears. "And I love her, I couldn't tell you how much because it just wouldn't be enough. My whole life I've been following the rules and doing what everyone wanted me to do and I never had the time to figure out who I am and what I wanted for myself. I've just going with the flow of things. But ever since Alex came into my life I suddenly knew what I wanted, who I wanted…I wanted her. She brings out something inside of me and when I'm with her I feel like I can do anything. I feel like I'm truly myself. For the first time in my life I've found someone who sees me, the real me. Someone who pushes me to be the very best version of myself."

She stopped to swallow back a sob and then quickly wiped away at her eyes. Cal brought an arm around his sister's shoulders. "See now," He said in a very light and cheerful voice "Feels good to let some of that out doesn't it? Just a little bit at a time."

Piper put her head on his shoulder "I hate you, Cal."

She could hear the smile in his voice "I love you too, Pipes." Piper felt a pain in her chest at the word "Pipes" and it reminded her of the way Alex used to say it.

"Thank you, for everything, for putting up with me, for letting me stay with you."

"You're family Pipes, and I'm your brother it's what I'm here for, I got to make up for all the lost time with you. Besides you should've been around when Neri was pregnant. If I can handle her I can handle you."

Piper lifted her head from his shoulder "Change of subject, can I ask you something? It's been bothering me for a while."

"Of course you can. You can ask me anything want."

"That bird that hangs around the village..."

Cal's eyebrows came together as he looked over at her. "Bird? What bird? We live up in the canopies so there's lots of birds you have to be more specific."

"It's an owl. An owl with red and white feathers. Does it belong to someone, a pet?"

"Bantu don't believe in pets, they believe in coexisting with nature and all it's inhabitants. They don't own pets."

"Okay but surely it's familiar with the people or, or someone…here?"

"Eh, I don't know Piper I've been here a long time and I've never seen the bird that you're describing."

"Never?"

"No. Never."

Piper came up on her feet and looked down at Cal with her hands on her hips. She began to talk with her hands to explain to Cal what she saw. "You can't miss it. There was a bird, a big owl with red and white feathers. I've been seeing it around the village ever since I came here. And I know this is going to sound strange but I think it's been watching me."

"Watching you?"

"Yes, and before you say I'm insane just listen. I can't explain it but it's almost eerie in the way that it looks at me, like it's studying me, it doesn't act like a normal bird, sometimes I almost expect it to speak like a human."

Piper paused for a moment to gauge his reaction. "You think I sound insane."

"No, no, I—I'm just listening. It's sounds interesting."

"But you don't believe me."

"No, it's not that I don't believe you, there are all kinds of creatures out there. So it's possible maybe you did, I'm just saying that I've never seen it. Maybe you should ask Neri. She's lived here longer. She might know what you're talking about. But I honestly doubt it. A red and white feathered owl? Something like wouldn't go unseen."

Cal put the flats of his palms on his knees and stood up "Well," He said as he stretched is arms. "We better go back before it gets dark, good practice today Piper."

As the orange colored rays of the sun marking sundown broke through the trees Piper started to follow behind Cal back towards the village. Piper had been hoping for answers about the strange owl but instead all she got was more questions. Maybe she would ask Neri. She needed some confirmation that she wasn't imagining it even though she was quite confident that she most certainly wasn't. Suddenly out of the corner of her eye she saw something and as she looked up high in the trees there it was again, perched on a branch.

In her excitement she called up to Cal "Hey! There it is! Cal look!"

"What?"

"Over here, look! Right there!"

Cal looked in the direction her finger was pointing "Where?" His head moved back and forth to see what she was talking about. Piper looked again and saw that it was gone.

"It was just there, I swear! It was here the whole time like I said…watching us, watching me."

Cal looked up not sure how to respond to his sister without offending her "Okay, well if it shows up again point it out to me, but in the mean time, I'm tired let's head back all right? If it keeps coming around like you say, someone else is bound to see it."

"Oh I'll make sure of it." Piper muttered to herself.


End file.
